Sebastian Korda was scheduled to appear on the tennis courts at the 2025 Winston-Salem Open at least once more, but he withdrew prior to his semi-final match.
It's been quite some time since Korda made it to an ATP semi-final. As a player who seems to be always struggling with some type of injury, the American has waited for a semi-final since January this year, when he played in a semi-final at the Adelaide International, and also reached the final at that event.
He made it to the semi-final at the 2025 Winston-Salem Open thanks to some impressive performances. He first beat Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-4, then outplayed Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, and Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 6-4, all that while firing a total of 43 aces past his opponents.
But despite reaching his first semi-final since January, Korda didn't appear on the courts to challenge for the final. He was supposed to take on Marton Fucsovics, but shortly ahead of their meeting, the 25-year-old announced his withdrawal.
First, the withdrawal was announced by the tournament organizers, who shared that Korda couldn't compete because of an illness. Soon after that, he provided an update himself, explaining the situation.
"Hi everyone. Woke up a bit under the weather and thought it was going to be difficult to play today. Been a long three months recovering and want to stay on track. Thanks for all the support and love."
Korda hopes to turn the page at the US Open
The fact that the 2025 US Open is right around the corner certainly had something to do with Korda's withdrawal. The American player likely didn't want to risk anything ahead of the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, especially since he's been waiting for a second-week appearance since the 2023 Australian Open.
This year, his draw at the US Open won't be easy. He isn't one of the seeded players anymore, but he will start against an unseeded player either way. Korda will take on former Top 10 player Cameron Norrie in the first round of the tournament.
If he wins that match, the American will await the winner of the match between the 28th-seeded Alex Michelsen and Francisco Comesana, but that still isn't the most challenging part of his draw. Korda could play against the 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the third round.
Korda's withdrawal from the Winston-Salem Open is not the only one
The tournament organizers at the 2025 Winston-Salem Open had few reasons to be happy on Friday afternoon. Korda wasn't the only player who withdrew, and the schedule of play took a big hit, as fans who bought the tickets missed not one but two matches.
The first-seeded doubles pairing of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski withdrew from their semi-final match against the third-seeded Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler, sending the third-seeded pair straight to the final.
That means apart from the quarter-final match between Yunchaokete Bu and Botic van de Zandschulp, the fans will see only one semi-final doubles match between Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo and Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus, as well as one semi-final between the winner of the earlier quarter-final match and big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
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