Two significant milestones were reached in 2024 when Korda cracked the top 20 for the first time in June and picked up his second tour title and first at ATP 500 level less than two months later at the Washington Open.
It was the first time a father and son had claimed the same title in ATP Tour history.
Though he climbed to a career-high mark of world No.15 following a Montreal Masters semifinal, an elbow injury soon derailed his progress at his home Slam and required surgery.
“I was definitely pretty pissed off at the US Open. I just wasn’t happy, but I was surrounded by a lot of great people and luckily my surgery went really well. That was pretty easy and then after that spending a lot of time at home recovering and getting ready for this year.
“I had a lot of injuries [last year], that’s for sure. Still struggling with my wrist, obviously had my elbow during the US Open. Overall, it was a pretty positive year though.
“I didn’t play too well in the first part of the year, then started to really find my game in the second part, unfortunate with the elbow but I guess that’s tennis. Hopefully I can stay healthy this year.”
Agassi is still only a phone call away in a mentor role.
“It’s not easy with both of our schedules but we’re still in contact and he’s still an amazing person in my life,” Korda said.
Where it could have been all too easy for a young Korda to suffer an overload of superstar words of wisdom, the now 24-year-old and his team have been careful not to complicate matters.
“I think that’s one of the great things about tennis. There’s no right way to do it, you do it your own way and I think that’s the way you should do it,” Korda said.
“Try to be authentic, try to be unique and not try to be someone else. I think if you can be yourself, be free out there, I think your level of tennis grows and you start to really enjoy it after that.”
