MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Sebastian Korda marked the 20th anniversary of his dad Petr’s memorable Australian Open triumph by winning the junior singles tile against Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin on Saturday.
And in keeping with family tradition, the Czech celebrated with the same scissor-kicking routine his dad, and coach, performed after beating Chilean Marcelo Rios in 1998.
“It feels pretty good. It’s definitely special, including being here in Australia,” the Florida-based Korda said after his 7-6(6) 6-4 win. “My sister won her first title here, as well. My dad won his only grand slam title here, so it’s very special.”
Korda’s sister Jessica is a golfer and won her first professional title, the Women’s Australian Open, in Melbourne in 2012.
While his dad was back home watching on television rather than in Melbourne, Korda said his victory made up for missing his 50th birthday last week.
“The main goal was try to get this tournament for my dad on his 50th birthday,” he said.
Korda, who is also a two handicap golfer, admitted his dad’s victory is regular viewing at home.
“I’ve seen his match on YouTube a lot. I watch it at least maybe once a month. A little bit of motivation,” he said.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
