Sebastian Korda has revealed he decided to have surgery for an elbow injury that was causing him discomfort.
Korda's last appearance was at the US Open at the end of August. He comfortably won his opening round in Straight sets against Corentin Moutet but then slipped to a heavy defeat to Tomas Machac, who Jannik Sinner beat in the Shanghai Masters semifinal.
The American visibly struggled with an elbow problem during his loss to Machac. He took a medical timeout during the match but could not compete effectively against the Czech.
That defeat to Machac continued a frustrating process for Korda of not being able to produce his best tennis at Grand Slams, although the US Open exit was not his fault due to how physically compromised he was.
His other Grand Slam results in 2024 were third-round appearances at the Australian Open and the French Open and a first-round exit at Wimbledon to the huge-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in five sets.
Despite those frustrations, Korda still broke new ground in 2024 by winning his first ATP 500 title at the Citi Open in Washington. He overcame Flavio Cobolli in the final, recovering from a set down against the Italian.
Korda's desire to return to that level has been disrupted by his elbow injury. His opening tournament of the Asian swing was scheduled to be at the Hangzhou Open, but he was forced to withdraw from the ATP 250 tournament.
The Hangzhou Open turned out to be one of the most memorable tournaments of the year. After all his injury issues, Marin Cilic had an incredible and unexpected run to the title, becoming the lowest-ranked ATP title winner ever.
Korda hoped to be fit for the Shanghai Masters but also pulled out of the penultimate Masters-1000 event of 2024. Jannik Sinner will meet Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster final on Sunday for the title in Shanghai.
After those withdrawals, Korda has now confirmed he had surgery for his elbow troubles. It was a success, and the American hopes to be back on the court competing as quickly as possible.
"I wanted to update you all—I’ve been dealing with some elbow issues and my team and I decided surgery was the best option. Everything went great, and I can’t wait to be back on court soon. Thanks for all your support!"
Korda is unclear about when he will be back playing, understandably after his surgery. However, he is no longer on the entry list for the tournament in Almaty next year, having initially been set to be the No. 2 seed in Kazakhstan.
The American will be frustrated to miss the event. He was the runner-up to Adrian Mannarino at last year's iteration of the tournament in Kazakhstan, held in Astana in 2023.
Korda's next scheduled appearance is at the Vienna Open next week. He has yet to withdraw from that tournament, which seems to be inevitable, given the surgery.
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