Daily Times

PARIS: American Sebastian Korda claimed his first victory since January by battling past Mackenzie McDonald at the French Open on Sunday and said he had spent the last few months learning to play again after a wrist issue wrecked his strong start to 2023. Korda’s hopes of emulating his father Petr’s 1998 Australian Open triumph ended in pain and disappointment as he retired with a wrist problem in the Melbourne Park quarter-final. The 22-year-old returned to action at the end of April but crashed to early defeats in Madrid and Rome. “I’d say I went two-three months without touching a racket. I even still had a little bit of pain in Madrid and Rome was the first tournament where I had nothing, which was a really big positive for me,” said Korda, who won 6-4 7-5 6-4 on Sunday. “Now I have zero pain in my wrist. Just kind of learning how to play again a little bit.”