Korda cruises to Washington SFs, making most of new life in D.C.

After saving two match points at the Mubadala Citi DC Open against Thanasi Kokkinakis, Sebastian Korda earned a far more straightforward victory against another Aussie on Friday. With a 6-4, 6-2 result against Jordan Thompson, the fourth-seeded American advanced to his fourth semi-final of the season.

The victory saw Korda move back to. No 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, a mark that would match his career-high PIF ATP Ranking from June. The 24-year-old can move up to No. 18 if he matches his father, Petr Korda (1992), by winning the Washington title.

In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Thompson, Korda hit 10 aces and saved the lone break point against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He awaits top seed Andrey Rublev or fifth seed Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals.

The opposite semi-final will see second seed Ben Shelton take on 10th seed Flavio Cobolli.

Shelton led the resurgent Denis Shapovalov 7-6(5), 6-6(6-3), and had triple match point when the Canadian was defaulted after making a comment to a fan. By coming through the all-lefty battle, the American improved to 4-0 in quarter-finals on home soil and improved his season record to 26-16 — equalling his win tally from 2023, his first full year on the ATP Tour.

Cobolli was a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(2) winner against #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen. The 22-year-old Italian, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last November, saved five match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round to reach his first ATP 500 quarter-final. He is now through to his second tour-level semi-final overall, after reaching that stage in Geneva in May.

Cobolli is up six places this week to No. 42 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting himself up for a career high. He will crack the Top 40 with one more win and will enter the Top 30 with his first title.