"Sebastian Korda should be more gritty like this, hire John McEnroe" - Fans react to American's sarcastic takedown of hecklers in Italian Open 2R

Sebastian Korda sarcastically blew a kiss to the fans behind him who heckled him throughout his second-round match at the Italian Open. Fans had an amusing take on Korda's sarcastic takedown of hecklers.

24th-seed Korda began his Italian Open campaign against local lad Flavio Cobolli in the second round. Cobolli had got the better of Maximilian Marterer in the first round to set up a clash against the American.

The Italian received great support from the home crowd but Korda faced the hecklers in all their might. The American took motivation from it and defeated Cobolli 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4.

Soon after earning the winning point, Korda turned around and blew a kiss toward the fans behind which enraged the stadium further and jeers engulfed it.

The American took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to call out the hecklers and claimed they were saying inappropriate things about his family. Korda's post was shared on Reddit and one fan suggested that he should hire John McEnroe as his coach.

"Korda needs to be more gritty like this. He should hire McEnroe or someone like that," wrote the fan.

Comment byu/LenaRybakina from discussion intennis

Some fans suggested Korda could win more matches with the motivation from these hecklers.

"These fans need to follow him around tour so he can win a grand slam," claimed another.

"If this is what it takes for Seb to show some grittiness then I hope the fans come to his next match too," wrote another.

Many fans were disappointed with what went down at the Grand Stand Arena.

"The foolish crowd does not deserve so much attention," remarked one fan.

"Could he not get those fans removed? I feel like that's crossing a line," wrote another.

"Its high time rude crowd gets back what it deserves... I'm all up and rooting for Fritz/Medvedev/Korda kind of guys giving it back to the rude crowd," wrote a third fan.

---

Sebastian Korda's girlfriend Ivana Nedved reacts to her boyfriend's response to hecklers at the Italian Open

Sebastian Korda at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Sebastian Korda and Ivana Nedved have been together for over three years now. Ivana is the daughter of Czech soccer legend, Pavel Nedved.

Ivana, a fashion influencer, took to her Instagram Story to react to her boyfriend's win and handling of hecklers at the Italian Open. She posted a video of Korda's winning reaction and wrote:

"Ice-Cold!"

The 23-year-old, who won the Madrid Open men's doubles title along with Jordan Thompson, could not continue his winning form in the men's doubles at the Italian Open. Thompson and Korda lost to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the first round 6-4, 2-6, 8-10.

In the singles format, Korda will face countryman Taylor Fritz in the third round on Sunday, May 12.