Bruins fan Korda getting some luck in Montréal

How did the genial 24-year-old from Florida become a Bruins fan? Through his Grand Slam winning dad, Petr, who knew longtime former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. They both hailed from the former Czechoslovakia.

“Dad was great friends with (Chara),” Korda told a group of reporters after his quicker than expected day at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers. “Every time they played in Tampa we would go and watch, so I supported the Bruins since I was a kid.”

Dad reached his first Masters final in Montréal in his second ever visit to the tournament — beating the likes of Andre Agassi and Jim Courier — and don’t discount the younger Korda from duplicating that achievement. He is on a roll, having just won his biggest title in Washington on Sunday, a victory which propelled his ranking to a new career-high of no. 18. Yes, his dad won that title, too.

Korda is no stranger to injuries, suffering a wrist issue that hampered his 2023 season after a promising start that included holding a match point against Novak Djokovic. But this week, he has benefited from some health-related luck. Canadian Vasek Pospisil — another player with ties to the Czech Republic — retired against Korda with a lower back injury in the first round after three games. Then, due to play his second match on Saturday against three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud — a hockey fan who roots for the Tampa Bay Lightning — Korda got a free pass when the Norwegian withdrew due to illness.

“I was looking forward to playing Casper,” said Korda. “He’s one of my favourite players on tour. One of the nicest guys on tour. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play. I wish him all the best. I was getting ready for a long day, hopefully. Two matches in a day isn’t easy. I have not experienced it too much.”

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His lack of match play this week, coupled with the rain that hit Montréal on Thursday and Friday, has meant little court time for Korda overall.

“I’ve had a lot of days off and am just itching to get back out there,” he said.

Korda passed his time Friday by taking a nap, practicing off site with Italy’s Flavio Cobolli and then doing his recovery work. The match that he did play — and win — on Saturday boosted his confidence. Korda beat Taylor Fritz, not only the tournament’s ninth seed but also the highest-ranked American man for much of the last few seasons. Korda prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (4) in blustery conditions, not getting broken and only losing 20 points on serve in total. Fritz had won their previous two matches, both on clay.

“He’s been the No. 1 American for the longest time,” said Korda. “Some weeks where he wasn’t…but overall, he’s been the guy for the last couple of years so, yeah, it was nice to beat him.”

Korda now isn’t far away from becoming the no. 1 American since Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Korda occupied spots 12-15 in the live rankings on Saturday.

Korda said he wasn’t focusing on that but did look at the numbers as it related to golf — sister Nelly is the women’s World No. 1, while his other sister, Jessica, is off the golf tour after giving birth in February. Nelly won gold at the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 but couldn’t go back-to-back at the Paris Games, shooting a final round 75 on Saturday to finish nine shots behind Lydia Ko.

“I watched her before the match today,” said Korda. “She didn’t have the best of rounds but she’s doing well. She’s having fun. Hopefully she can keep playing some good golf.”

And he hopes to keep playing some good tennis.

Feature photo by: Patrice Bériault