WASHINGTON (AP) — Sebastian Korda completed a father-son double Sunday night in the Mubadala Citi DC Open for his second ATP Tour title.
Thirty-two years after father Petr won the then-Sovran Bank Classic, the fourth-seeded Korda beat 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli of Italy 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in a match delayed at the start because of rain.
They are the first father-son tandem to win the same ATP Tour event.
“We have a lot of history with this tournament,” Korda said during the trophy presentation. “Obviously, one of my biggest goals was one day coming here and hopefully winning the tournament and putting my name up there on the stadium. Now that I have the opportunity, this is probably the most special moment of my career so far.”
The 24-year-old Korda, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, is the younger brother of golf stars Nelly and Jessica Korda. His mother, Regina Rajchrtova, played on the WTA Tour.
“Proud is an understatement,” Jessica Korda said in a retweet of a video showing her brother lifting the trophy.
Korda is the first American to win the Washington event since Andy Roddick in 2007. His previous victory came in May 2021 in the Emilia-Romagna Open, an ATP 250 tournament. He will jump to a career-high 18th on Monday when the new ranking comes out.
In the women’s final, Paula Badosa of Spain won her first title following a back injury, beating Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in a rain-interrupted match.
The 26-year-old Badosa, ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, was sidelined six months last year because of a stress fracture.
“One year ago I was on the couch, so it’s a big difference now,” Badosa said. “Now I’m an athlete again.”
She has four WTA Tour victories, also winning in 2021 at Belgrade and Indian Wells and in January 2002 in Sydney.
“I was really, really nervous because I really wanted it really bad,” Badosa said.
The match was delayed twice because of rain. On Saturday in the semifinals, Bouzkova rallied to beat top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belaus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 after a long weather delay in the third set.
Bouzkova was playing her first WTA 500 final. She won her lone career title in 2022 in Prague.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis