American professional tennis player of Czech origin Sebastian Korda spoke about the tournament in St. Petersburg.
– What are my long-term goals? I don’t know, just keep moving up. This is a very good season for me: I made it to the first hundred, then to the top 50, now I am already in the top 40. I'm going to keep working hard, listening to the right people around me, and making progress.
– What can you say about the court at the tournament in St. Petersburg? Are there any special features of this coating?
– I feel great here, I like to play on such kind of courts in the hall. I won the challenge on this surface, showed a good result at the tournament in Montpellier.
– You really showed good results on hard this season. How do you explain that you won the first title on clay? What is your favorite surface?
– I love all surfaces, I also showed good results on the grass. In general, I feel good on any surface, I enjoy tennis.
– Who was your tennis idol other than your father?
– There were two of them. Rafa Nadal and Marat Safin are a very charismatic player, whose matches I have always followed with great pleasure. I modeled my backhand in the image and likeness of Marat's backhand. Over the past couple of years, I have crossed paths with him several times, we met, he was always very friendly, he said something good about my tennis.
– Since the tournament is being held in St. Petersburg, I would like to know what you think about the Russian tennis players participating in it? And in particular, what are the chances of Rublev, with whom you can potentially cross in the quarterfinals, to repeat your last year's success and take the title again?
– I hope his chances are not so high, because he is in my part of the grid! Yes, the Russians look amazing this season! Andrey plays incredibly, Karatsev took the title in Moscow last week. There are a lot of talents in Russia showing really very good tennis.
The ATP St. Petersburg Open tournament runs from 25 to 31 October. Rublev is the first seeded and the reigning champion of the tournament.
Korda is ranked 38th in the ATP rankings.