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A shot from Pavel Kotov hit Sebastian Korda's body during their first-round encounter at the Dubai Tennis Champions on Monday (February 26).
Korda made light work of the Russian, dishing out a bagel in the first set and dropping just two games in the second. During the first game of the second set, with the scores tied at 15:15 on Korda's serve, one of Kotov's forehand caught the 23-year-old American on his left shoulder.
Technically, Kotov won the point as soon as the ball hit Korda's body, even if it landed legally in the former's half of the court. But the Russian still made sure that he won the point by subsequently playing a shot, which went unanswered.
Watch the video below:
Korda was utterly dominant in the match, winning 79% of his first-serve points and 50% on his second, compared to his opponent's 46% and 14%, respectively. The American, ranked 33 in the world, next faces Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.
The Dutchman beat sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino in straight sets in his opening match and enjoys a 2-1 lead over Korda in their head-to-head record.
Sebastian Korda comments on Dubai being one of the ideal pre-season destinations
Many top players, including Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem, used Dubai as their training base before the start of the 2024 season.
Speaking about Dubai being one of the ideal pre-season training bases, Sebastian Korda told Khaleej Times before his match against Pavel Kotov:
"Yeah, for sure. I think Dubai is probably the best place for the pre-season (training) now. The amount of players that are here, especially the high-level players.
"Everyone comes here to practice, obviously the weather is probably the best around the world during the time of the pre-season. Definitely I would love to be here and play with a lot of great players."
Korda will look to make a mark this season with a deep run in this ATP 500 event. He has an underwhelming 7-5 record this year, which includes a semifinal run in Adelaide. He faced first-round exits in Brisbane and Rotterdam and was eliminated in the third round at the Australian Open by World No. 5 Andrey Rublev.
It's also the first time Korda is taking part in the event in Dubai.
