Now into his second full season on the ATP Tour, Sebastian Korda is used to jumping on a plane and heading wherever life as a professional tennis player takes him.

But how sharp is the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up when it comes to packing for his next trip?

It appears the training sessions never end for Korda, even when he’s sat in the departure lounge. The 2021 Parma finalist revealed all that and more in this edition of ATP’s Next Stop: Travel Like A Pro series.

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The 21-year-old, who reached the fourth round on debut at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, said that he has devised a way of sharpening his return game with the help of just a laptop and a pair of 3-D glasses. He also added that his headphones are essential, especially for spinning his favourite tracks while preparing for his next on-court challenge.

“You’ll not see me without them,” says Korda. “I’m a big Martin Garrix fan. [I like] anything that brings me up. Dubstep, EDM, house…anything to get me going.”

There is a sentimental side to Korda, too. His collection of hotel key cards, reminders of his stops on Tour throughout the year, is constantly growing. The American also collects his airplane tickets.

A deep sense of distress, shock and sadness has been felt across the entire tennis community following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the past week. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and we commend the many tennis players who have spoken out and taken action against this unacceptable act of aggression. We echo their calls for the violence to end and peace to return.

The safety of the tennis community is our most immediate collective priority. The focus of the WTA and ATP in particular in recent days has been on contacting current and former players, and other members of the tennis community from Ukraine and neighbouring countries, to check on their safety and offer any assistance.

The international governing bodies of tennis stand united in our condemnation of Russia’s actions and, as a result, are in agreement with the following decisions and actions:

• The WTA and ATP Boards have made the decision to suspend the WTA / ATP combined event, scheduled this October in Moscow.

• The ITF Board has made the decision to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation membership and to withdraw their entries from all ITF international team competition until further notice. This action follows the cancellation of all ITF tournaments in Russia and Belarus indefinitely.

• At this time, players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice.

When Carlos Alcaraz sealed victory and fell to his knees on the Rio de Janeiro clay, the tennis world felt the ground shake.

The 18-year-old has started 2022 on fire and his recent title run at the Rio Open presented by Claro win made him the youngest winner of an ATP 500 event. The victory also moved Alcaraz into the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time, a feat he has achieved at a younger age than Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, to name but a few.

The tremors of his Rio victory caused waves outside tennis, too. The Spanish sensation features on the front cover of this month’s Men’s Health Spain, and you can read an excerpt from the interview below:

Much has been said in recent weeks about the physical transformation of Carlos Alcaraz, but his maturity has gone much further. At 18 years old, the tennis player from El Palmar (Murcia) has won his first ATP 500 tournament and jumped into the Top 20 after winning the final in Rio de Janeiro and showing that his tennis is much more than muscle and youth.

“For me, tennis is purely mental,” says the tennis player in the exclusive interview he has granted to Men’s Health Spain. “In the end, you are alone there on the court, and it is you and only you who has to know how to overcome and find solutions.” Alcaraz has become the youngest ‘cover’ in the 20-year history of the magazine in Spain, one more milestone in his daring precocity.

Nadal’s shadow is long but Alcaraz avoids comparisons: “I don’t feel like anyone’s successor. I want to be known as Carlos Alcaraz and not as Rafa Nadal’s successor. I want my name to be known.”

Match by match, there is no place or person on the planet that has not set eyes on him. The New York Times defined him as “the great sensation of sport” and “a true prodigy”. For John McEnroe, he is “a player who is going to win a lot of Majors.”

“I have always kept in mind that the first thing is to be a person, and then an athlete,” says Alcaraz, who is always very grateful to the work of his coach, former tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrero. “It is a motto that helps me keep a cool head and my feet on the ground no matter what happens.”

You can read the full story in Spanish from Men’s Health Spain here.