Korda Seals QF Spot In Winston-Salem

American Sebastian Korda advanced to his fourth tour-level quarter-final of the season on Wednesday at the Winston-Salem Open, where he moved past Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(5), 6-3.

The 23-year-old earned an opening-round win against Benjamin Bonzi and backed that up with a hard-fought display against Fucsovics. Korda rallied from 3-5 in the first set before he struck 13 winners in the second set to advance after one hour and 53 minutes at the ATP 250.

“It was a very close first set,” Korda said. “I think as a player you take a lot of confidence in that. You have the upper hand and [then] it was time to push a little harder and be more aggressive and take the chances when they come.

“I think on the big [points] I played pretty solid and did not make many mistakes. As the match progressed, the longer the rallies got and the more I felt comfortable.”

Korda will continue the quest for his first tour-level trophy of the season against countryman Brandon Nakashima or 12th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Earlier this year, Korda advanced to the final in Auckland, where he held championship point against Novak Djokovic before falling. The third seed, who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, is up three spots to No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.