"Talking inappropriately about my girlfriend, family for 2.5 hours" - Sebastian Korda lambasts Italian Open fans for motivating him to dramatic 2R win

Sebastian Korda faced the heat from home crowd when he faced local favorite Flavio Cobolli in the second round at the ongoing Italian Open. Korda got the better of Cobolli and then addressed the fans who heckled him throughout the match.

Cobolli, who defeated German qualifier Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-2 in the first round, faced a tough test against 24th-seed Korda.

Cobolli was assured of support from the home crowd but consequently, Korda faced the wrath. He was booed throughout the match and also encountered fans talking inappropriately about his family.

Korda won the first set 7-6(6) but lost the second set 4-6. In the decider, the American was 1-3 down but dug deep to turn it into a 6-4 win.

After earning the winning point, Korda turned around and blew a kiss towards the fans who were heckling him. There was an even louder eruption of boos for Korda soon after but he took motivation from the jeers.

The official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the ATP Tour posted a video of Korda flying the kiss which the American later reposted and wrote:

"Shoutout to the fans behind me for talking inappropriately about my girlfriend, family and team for 2.5hrs. Thank you for the extra motivation... Still love yall."

After the match, Korda was interviewed by Tennis Channel and the American was asked about the hostile crowd and his mentality while playing against it. He explained that he tried to stay patient and stay hungry for each point.

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Sebastian Korda will face Taylor Fritz in Italian Open 2024 3R

Sebastian Korda at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships.

Taylor Fritz began his Italian Open campaign with a second-round match against Fabio Fognini after the Italian won his first-round match against Dan Evans in a controversial manner.

In another America vs Italy second-round battle at the Italian Open, the home crowd faced defeat again. The 11th-seed American defeated Fognini 6-3, 6-4.

Fritz's win set up a clash against his countryman Sebastian Korda in the third round in Rome on Sunday, May 12.

The Americans have faced each other only once in their careers in 2022. The pair clashed at the ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo in the Round of 16 and Fritz prevailed 7-6(4), 7-5.

Korda is also participating in the men's doubles format at the Italian Open. He has teamed up with Jordan Thompson and the pair will face the team of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the first round.