Like father, like son: Korda rallies to win Washington title

Playing in his eighth tour-level singles final, Sebastian Korda won his second and biggest title at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 triumph filled with significance.

In becoming the first American man to win the Washington crown since Andy Roddick in 2007, the home favourite also matched his father, Petr Korda, who won the D.C. title in 1992. The Kordas are the first father-son duo to win the same title in ATP Tour history. Looking forward, the triumph set Korda up to rise to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 18 on Monday.

"I've been coming to this tournament since I was a teenager," the 24-year-old Korda said in his trophy speech. "My dad used to coach Radek Stepanek, who also won here in 2011. We have a lot of history with this tournament, and obviously one of my biggest goals was one day coming here and hopefully winning the tournament and putting my name up there on the stadium. Now that I have the opportunity, this is probably the most special moment of my career so far."

Show time ?@SebiKorda and Cobolli are delivering in DC!@mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/1lnYkQ7HbE

After a two-hour delay due to rain and a three-set women's final, Korda dominated much of the match against first-time finalist Cobolli. But the Italian came up with one of the shots of the day on his first break point to snatch the opening set with a screaming forehand winner.

From 1-2 in the second set, Korda won 11 straight games to run away with the ATP 500 title. Playing within himself, he leaned on his experience to overcome a spirited start from the 22-year-old Cobolli, who competed in the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in November. The American applied pressure with assured net approaches throughout the one-hour, 34-minute match, winning 11 of 17 net points and hitting 17 total winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Now 2-0 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head, Korda has one "road" win in Rome in addition to this victory in front of his home fans in Washington. 

"A big thank you to the crowd," Korda said. "You guys were unbelievable this whole week, especially tonight. I really used your energy."

Both men had saved match points on their way to the title match: Korda erased two against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the third round, while Cobolli fought off five against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.

Like Korda, Cobolli will also leave Washington with a career-high PIF ATP Ranking. The Italian, who played four consecutive three-setters including the final, is set to move up 15 places to World No. 33 on Monday.

"A big congratulations to Flavio," Korda added. "You've battled this whole week on court, you've saved so many match points, you spent so many hours on court in the heat. It wasn't easy, but a big congratulations to you and your team. It's a great week for you guys and I wish you all the best."

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