Sebastian Korda holds off Ben Shelton to battle into Shanghai Masters tennis semi-finals

SHANGHAI – Sebastian Korda reached his first Masters semi-final, as he battled back to tame fast-rising fellow American Ben Shelton 6-7 (10-12), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in Shanghai on Thursday.

The 26th seed finally sealed the quarter-final win on his sixth match point and plays Poland’s 16th seed Hubert Hurkacz for a place in Sunday’s final.

“It’s super cool,” said the 23-year-old, when asked about reaching his maiden Masters semi-final. “I played a really high level. Ben did as well, so I think it was a really high level. We had a lot of great points out there and, hopefully, it’s the first of many battles that we play against each other.

“He’s such an electric tennis player and it was a lot of fun to share the court with him today.”

With the centre-court roof closed because of rain in Shanghai, the first set went to a tiebreak after they exchanged breaks in the 11th and 12th games.

US Open semi-finalist Shelton, who uncorked a serve clocked at 236kmh earlier in the set, had Korda on the back foot throughout a gripping tiebreak.

The pressure finally told when the recently turned 21-year-old Shelton unleashed an ace on his fifth set point that Korda could only watch whizz by.

Korda, whose father Petr reached world No. 2 at his peak, recovered to break Shelton’s big serve at the start of the second set and raced to level the quarter-final at one-set all.

He broke the 19th seed at the start of the deciding set and then dug himself out of a hole, saving three break points to extend his lead to 3-1 and then 4-2.

But Korda, whose only previous ATP title came in 2021 in Parma, allowed Shelton back in again and they went to another tiebreak.

He let slip five match points from 6-1 in the tiebreak before belatedly sealing an absorbing encounter in just under three hours.

“I’m just thankful to stay calm,” said Korda, after fending off Shelton’s late charge. “I played some bad points but I always believed in myself, even at 6-6. I just thought about putting the return in the court, somehow getting my racket on it and luckily I finished it off then.” 

He had once joked that he was the “worst athlete” in his family. His sisters Nelly and Jessica are currently world No. 4 and 16 respectively in women’s professional golf while their Czech mother, Regina Rajchrtova, was also a former tennis player.

But his recent form has given the world No. 26 confidence that he can climb up the rankings.

Korda, who is now 26-13 for the season, said: “I had a good result in Zhuhai, then went to Astana and made the final and now the semis here. I’m playing some good tennis now and, hopefully, I can keep it going and keep playing the way I’m playing.” 

In the first quarter-final, Hurkacz similarly fought back to defeat unseeded Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Hurkacz said: “He came with some really great shots, and I just needed to stay positive and keep committing to the game plan. To be aggressive because, if I dropped anything short, he was just taking advantage of it and coming with some really incredible shots. I knew I had to stay on point today.”

The Shanghai Masters, which is back after four years following the pandemic, has witnessed a succession of shocks. Top seed Carlos Alcaraz was turfed out in the last 16 to follow Daniil Medvedev – beaten by Korda – Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner out the exit door.

Seventh-ranked Russian Andrey Rublev is the only player from the world’s top 10 left in the draw. The fifth seed faces 32nd seed Ugo Humbert of France in the quarter-finals, while 18th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov – who knocked out Alcaraz – takes on 22nd-seeded Chilean Nicolas Jarry.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic skipped the tournament. AFP