It was a good day for the Korda family, who already had something to celebrate before the sun rose in Lake Nona, Florida. Nelly Korda woke up 30 minutes before her alarm was set to begin preparing for the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions' second round to watch her brother, Sebastian, win his third-round match at the Australian Open against Daniil Medvedev. The proud big sister was over the moon for her brother and said it’s always special to see him achieve success.
Korda began her day in a good mood, having watched her brother win while eating breakfast in the clubhouse of Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, but snapped into her own bubble when she stepped up to the first tee. With her brother’s good vibes as a motivator, Korda signed for a second-round 69 and is -7 through 36 holes, four strokes behind leader Brooke Henderson. In an interview after his match, Sebastian recounted where his family has been ranked in their respective sports, claiming he’s the worst athlete in the family. Nelly, former Rolex Rankings World No. 1 and current World No. 2, immediately disagreed.
“He's the best. Honestly, he's the best. His hand-eye coordination is unbelievable. His swing -- I'm jealous of his swing actually. It's crazy,” Nelly said in response to her brother’s claim. “He's a lefty. He's a natural righty, but he plays golf lefty. He played hockey lefty. I mean, he grew up playing hockey. He was pretty good at it, too. Like he skates really nicely, plays golf nicely, plays tennis beautifully.”
Mardy Fish, who is leading the celebrity division with 78 Stableford points, was also inspired by Sebastian’s victory this morning. The former tennis player, who was a six-time singles and eight-time doubles winner, coached Korda in the Davis Cup in 2022. Fish said he has lots of nice things to say about Sebastian and was happy to see him advance to the fourth round.
“Certainly he's got great role models in his sisters to watch, and obviously his parents,” said Fish. “So he's a great kid and I root for him like crazy. I was up at 5:00 this morning watching him play, so fun to watch him win.”
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