Seb Korda has reached the Miami Open quarter-finals for the second time in his career, with the American being praised for what he did against Gael Monfils.
Korda, whose dad is a Grand Slam winner, is currently the world number 25 and the fifth highest ranked American on the ATP Tour.
The 24-year-old has been backed as someone with a lot of potential, with some picking Korda to win a major title himself.
Having shown that potential by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in his previous match, Korda set up a meeting with Gael Monfils that was heavily disrupted by bad weather.
Sebastian Korda praised for what he did against Gael Monfils at the Miami Open
Korda, who was born in Florida, knows how unpredictable the weather can be like at tournaments like the Miami Open.
This was a big feature of the match between Korda and Monfils, with rain disrupting play throughout the match.
In the third and deciding set with Korda leading 4-3, the rain began to fall while the players were competing.
Korda won the first point of that game while the rain was getting heavier, with Monfils evidently not happy that the match was still going.
After umpire Mohamed Lahyani called play to a halt, Korda would go over to the chair and tell him that they would replay the point following the conclusion of the rain delay.
This appeared to be appreciated by both Monfils and Lahyani, who told the crowd, “With good sportsmanship, the last point will be replayed.”
It was not just the crowd inside the stadium who applauded Korda for his gesture, with fans on social media also recognizing his sporting act.
One fan on X (formerly known as Twitter) said, “Pure class from Sebi!”
In a similar tone another said, “Classy move by Korda for sure
An additional person added, “Good sportsmanship from Sebi.”
Others echoed the sentiments towards Korda and mentioned that they particularly liked how the umpire Lahyani made it clear that it was the player’s decision.
They said, “‘With good sportsmanship, the last point will be replayed’ – love that Mo recognized it.”
In response to that post, someone replied, “I agree. He made it about Seb saying it then him acting like it was on the ATP or something. Classy. Very Classy.”
Sebastian Korda vs Novak Djokovic head-to-head
Despite giving up that point, Korda held strong when the players returned from the break and beat Monfils, 6-4 2-6 6-4.
This will be the second time that Korda will play in the Miami Open quarter-finals, with his last appearance at this stage coming on his tournament debut in 2021.
On that occasion he was beaten by Andrey Rublev, and it will not get any easier for Korda this year, as he will play the resurgent Novak Djokovic for a place in the Miami Open semi-finals.
This will be the second meeting between Korda and Djokovic, with their only other match taking place in a memorable final in Adelaide.
In that match Korda led by a set and actually had a championship point, but Djokovic fought back to win the title in dramatic fashion.
The next chapter in their head-to-head will take place on Wednesday March 26 in the night session match on Stadium Court, as Korda looks to reach his first Masters 1000 semi-final.
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