Unseeded American advances after Nishioka retires injured mid-match; Belarusian star crushes Begu 6-3, 6-2
\n ADELAIDE
\nSebastian Korda booked a spot in his fifth career final Saturday, with either Novak Djokovic or Daniil Medvedev awaiting him in the Adelaide International decider.
\nThe unseeded American, son of former world number two Petr Korda, was in charge 7-6 (7\/5), 1-0 when Japan\u2019s Yoshihito Nishioka called for a medical timeout before pulling out of the match.
\nNishioka received treatment on his upper right leg and was forced to retire, casting a shadow over his preparations for the Australian Open this month.
\n\u201cVery excited for the way I\u2019m playing and a lot of confidence leading into the big one (final),\u201d said Korda, 22, who won his first and only title on clay in Parma in 2021, while making two finals last year.
\n\u201cExcited to play either one (Djokovic or Medvedev). It\u2019s always a great thing to learn from different kinds of players,\u201d he said of Sunday\u2019s final.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great learning experience whatever the outcome and, you know, I\u2019m going to go for the win.\u201d
\nTop seed Djokovic, who has an ominous 21-1 record since September, takes on Russian third seed Medvedev in an evening semi-final.
\nThe world number five Serbian holds an 8-4 edge in their head-to-head, with 10 of the 12 showdowns coming on hard courts.
\nWorld number five Aryna Sabalenka surged into the women\u2019s final, crushing Romanian veteran Irina-Camelia Begu for the loss of just five games.
\nHer reward is a title-match against either world number two Tunisian Ons Jabeur or rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova as she hits her stride ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year.
\n\u201cI\u2019m happy with the level I played today,\u201d said the Belarusian, who is targeting an 11th career title and a first since Abu Dhabi and Madrid in 2021, after winning 6-3, 6-2.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s playing a different style so super happy that I was able to be in the match.
\n\u201cWe did everything right in the pre-season, I think this is the key,\u201d she added in explaining her good early-season form, where she is yet to drop a set.
\nBegu had beaten seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko and fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova en route to the last four, but was no match for the power of the Sabalenka serve and her ferocious returns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unseeded American advances after Nishioka retires injured mid-match; Belarusian star crushes Begu 6-3, 6-2 ADELAIDE Sebastian Korda booked a spot in his fifth career final Saturday, with either Novak Djokovic or Daniil Medvedev awaiting him in the Adelaide International decider. The unseeded American, son of former world number two Petr Korda, was in charge 7-6 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-306073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n