Korda heads to Washington, making the most of his new life in Washington

After saving two match points at the Mubadala Citi DC Open against Thanasi Kokkinakis, Sebastian Korda earned a much easier victory over another Australian on Friday. With a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jordan Thompson, the fourth-seeded American advanced to his fourth semifinal of the season.

With the win, Korda climbs to No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, a mark that would match his best PIF ATP ranking in June. The 24-year-old can climb to No. 18 if he matches his father, Petr Korda (1992), in winning the Washington title.

(ATP APPLICATION)

In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup against Thompson, Korda hit 10 aces and saved the only break point against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He awaits in the semifinals either top seed Andrey Rublev or top seed Frances Tiafoe.

The opposite semi-final will see second seed Ben Shelton face tenth seed Flavio Cobolli.

Shelton led 7-6(5), 6-6(6-3) against Denis Shapovalov, who came back from behind. He had three match points when the Canadian was disqualified after making a comment to a fan. By winning against a left-hander, the American improved to 4-0 in quarterfinals on home soil and improved his season record to 26-16, matching his win total from 2023, his first full year on the ATP Tour.

Cobolli defeated #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(2). The 22-year-old Italian, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last November, saved five match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round to reach his first ATP 500 quarter-final. He is now through to his second tour-level semi-final, having reached this stage in Geneva in May.

Cobolli moved up six places this week to reach No. 42 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, a personal best. He will break the Top 40 with one more win and enter the Top 30 with his first title.

(NEWSLETTER FORM)