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Sebastian Korda received high praise from former player and Williams sisters' coach, Rick Macci.
In a recent Tennis Unfiltered podcast, Macci was asked why American players did not have strong backhands. Macci did not believe it to be true, citing Sebastian Korda as an example.
He elaborated that Korda was "the most talented American player", had the potential to win multiple Grand Slams and compared his forehand and backhand to that of Roger Federer and Andre Agassi respectively.
"I think Serbastian Korda, in my opinion, he is the leader in the clubhouse. He is the most talented American," he said. "Kind of hits the forehand like Federer and his backhand is like Agassi. I mean it's automatic. I think he can win multiple Grand Slams."
Macci, who has coached top players like Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova pushed back on the question by adding that both Korda and Taylor Fritz had strong backhands. He also reminded the listeners that Korda was still recovering from his injury.
"I don't think you can look at it and say 'Why can't they hit a backhand?' because I can tell you a handful of guys that have amazing backhands and I can start right at the top of my head with Korda and Fritz who are in the mix right now. Let's see when Korda gets healthy," he said.
Sebastian Korda is currently ranked No. 28 in the world.
Sebastian Korda's 2023 season marred by wrist injury
Sebastian Korda made a strong start to his season as a runner-up at the Adelaide International. The American then reached the quarterfinal of the Australian Open when a wrist injury forced him to retire, handing a walkover to his opponent Karen Khachanov.
The 22-year-old elaborated on his injury in an on-court post-match interview in Melbourne.
"I had it a little bit in Adelaide a couple weeks ago, but then it went away," Korda said of his injury. "During the matches, it was completely fine. Then just one kind of mishit return [early in the second set], and it started to bother me a lot of after that. Some forehands I couldn't even hold the racquet. Volleying was almost impossible for me. So it was a little tough."
The World No. 28 was out of action for three months pulling out of all major events including the Sunshine Doubles.
Korda recently made his comback at the Madrid Open but fell to Frenchman Hugo Grenier un straight sets in the opening round of the tournament. He is likely to next appear at this year's Rome Masters that begin on May 12.
