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Rising American star Sebastian Korda was happy with his performance against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka as he was thrilled to make his maiden clay semifinal in Parma. Korda, ranked at No. 63 in the world, dropped just six games en route to claiming a 6-3 6-3 win over Nishioka in the Parma quarterfinal.
Korda made a perfect start to the match, having won the opening three games. Korda then routinely held on to his serve the rest of the set to take the opener. Korda also started the second set with a break but Nishioka broke back in the second game to even the set at one-game apiece.
Nishioka led 3-2 after the opening five games but Korda then claimed back-to-back breaks and won four games in a row to seal a straight-set win. “I played a great match. I know he has been playing really good tennis, he reached the semi-final in Lyon [last week],” Korda said in an on-court interview, per the ATP website.
“But it’s my first semi-final on clay and I’m super happy”.
Korda sets up a Tommy Paul clash
Korda will be fighting against fellow Paul for a place in the Parma final. Paul, ranked at No. 55, beat Jan-Lennard Struff easier than expected as he handed a 6-2 6-4 loss to the German.
Paul made a great start to the match as he realized his fourth break point in the opening game to start the match with a break. Paul then broke Struff in the fifth game to take a 4-1 lead, before serving out for the opener in the eighth game.
The first break point of the second set was seen in the seventh game, when Paul converted his break point to take a 4-3 lead. Paul then held on to his serve the rest of the set to book a straight-set win a set up a semifinal against Korda.