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‘He’s a kid with a lot of power and an amazing future,’ says Nadal of ace who named his cat after him


Rafael Nadal says upcoming Roland Garros opponent Sebastian Korda ‘has an amazing future,’ although he makes him feel old!

The pair will meet in the fourth round of the French Open after Nadal powered to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 win over Stefano Travaglia on Friday.

Korda has described the Spaniard as his ‘biggest idol’ and even revealed he named his cat after him, and it’s making an admittedly flattered Nadal feel his age a bit.

“It means that I have been on the TV for such a long time, that’s the main thing.

“The same like when I was a kid, I was watching Sampras, Agassi, Carlos Moya, et cetera.

“I know he’s playing great. He’s a very young kid with a lot of power. I think he has an amazing future – hopefully not yet.”

Korda, who is the son of former Australian Open winner Petr, said of Nadal: “He’s my biggest idol. He’s one of the reasons I play tennis.

“Just watching him play, unbelievable competitor. Just from him I have the never-give-up mentality.

“Whenever I’m on court, I try to be like him.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.