Murray opponent Korda didnt like Brit for reason involving Nadal

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Sebastian Korda has confessed that he “didn’t like” Andy Murray when he was younger after defeating the Brit at the recent Gijon Open. The 22-year-old won his first meeting with the world No 1 just 11 days ago and was set to face him at the Swiss Indoors Basel before withdrawing after making two finals in two weeks.

Korda and Murray were set to meet for the second time in less than two weeks on Tuesday before the American withdrew from the ATP 500 in Basel to rest after making back-to-back finals in Gijon and Antwerp, where he lost to Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The world No 33 beat Murray 6-4 1-6 6-1 en route to the championship match in Gijon in what was their first clash.

And that will remain their only meeting for the time being following Korda’s withdrawal in Basel, but the son of 1998 Aussie Open champion Petr Korda has already reflected on his recent match against the 35-year-old and confessed that he had “didn’t like” Murray because of the Brit’s history with Rafael Nadal. 

“I always have like a love-hate relationship with him growing up because my favourite players were Nadal and Radek Stepanek and he would always beat up on them sometimes,” the 2021 Parma Open champion joked, speaking to i. “So I never ‘liked’ him, but I love watching him play, and just getting to practise with him and to play a match against him was really awesome. It was just a special match.”

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Korda admitted that it was tough to face the three-time Grand Slam champion even though he now sits down at No 49 in the world, a far cry from the world No 1 ranking that he reached almost six years ago. Explaining what surprised him about Murray, he said: “His anticipation and the way he kind of reads the game when he’s fully healthy.

“He was arguably one of the best defensive-offensive players that we’ve had in tennis and to get to see that with my own eyes and to play against it was something that I’ve never really felt. He can really just see where you’re going most of the time, and it’s not a good feeling to see on the other side.”

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As tricky as Murray proved to be for the world No 33, it was Korda who ultimately got over the line, so the 35-year-old would likely be relieved to face a different opponent in the first round of the Swiss Indoors as he bids to reach the top 32 by the end of the season to earn a seeded spot at the Australian Open, with just two tournaments left.

But in true Murray fashion, the 46-time title winner would likely rather get the chance to prove himself against one of the rising stars in the game – especially one that recently defeated him. Instead, he will face lucky loser Roman Safiullin on Tuesday afternoon.

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