Nelly Korda claims golf major ahead of her brother Seb’s Wimbledon debut

Alex de Minaur is about to run into a member from a family that have been to the Olympics and won tennis and golf majors.

Seb Korda is America’s brightest prospect in men’s tennis in nearly 20 years Picture: AFP

Fresh from claiming a maiden grass court title, Alex de Minaur will begin his Wimbledon campaign early on Tuesday, rain permitting, against an American rated his nation’s best prospect in more than a decade.

Seb Korda is the new hope for a very proud country whose stocks in men’s tennis, similarly to what Australia has experienced at different stages this century, are currently on the wane.

At a time where there are no Americans ranked inside the top 30 for the first time since the 1970s, the 20-year-old Korda is turning heads on the tour.

He is a former Australian Open junior champion. After making a final in Florida earlier this year, Korda claimed a maiden title on clay last month to break into the top 50.

Korda is angular but agile, is blessed with more weapons than simply his serve and has shown himself to possess discipline off the court and an even temper on it.

The New Yorker quoted former US Open champion Andy Roddick, the last American man to win a major, “I’ll say it in no uncertain terms. This is our best American prospect in a long, long time.”

Now for the remarkable part.

For all his potential, and he has plenty, Korda may not prove to be the best tennis player in his family, let alone its greatest athlete.

His older sister Nelly Korda, 22, will become the top-ranked golfer in the world after winning her first major in the LPGA Championship in Atlanta by three shots on Monday.

Nelly Korda is doused with champagne after her victory in the Women's PGA Championship Picture: Getty Images

It is Korda’s third title for the year and her second in succession.

Local fans would have suspected a future champion was in their midst when Korda won the Australian Open a couple of years ago in Adelaide.

“I don’t even have the words, honestly,” she said.

“Is this week even real? It is amazing.”

Later this month she will be joined in Tokyo by her older sister Jessica, who is a six-time winner on the LPGA Tour, with Seb Korda a likely Olympian as well.

Genetics, clearly, are a factor. Throwing back a couple of decades, Petr Korda claimed the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in 1998 and was also a Roland Garros finalist.

He got to a ranking of two in the world, so Nelly Korda now has bragging rights on that front over her father.

Petr Korda in 1993

Mum, too, was an extremely talented athlete. Regina Rajchrtova was an Olympian for her native Czechoslovakia who peaked at a ranking of 26 and twice made the last 17 at the US Open.

As dual-Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, whose brother Jamie topped the tennis rankings in doubles, noted on Monday; “What the Korda family is doing is incredible.”

What the Korda family is doing is incredible 🤯 👏👏👏 https://t.co/sv0q05ccAp

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 27, 2021

After her stunning success in Atlanta, Nelly Korda said her siblings were as driven as she was to succeed and did not necessarily take time to consider their shared successes.

“You don’t realise it until someone really talks about it because we’re always so in the zone,” she said.

“We’re always striving to achieve more, and for our family to back each other through every situation … it’s so surreal.”

London’s fickle weather aside – rain is predicted to fall on Monday – de Minaur will be one of five Australians in action on the opening day at Wimbledon.

The world No. 15, who now has five ATP Tour titles, is scheduled to play Korda on Court 14 in a match that will not start before 2am AEST on Tuesday.

Seb Korda had decent company for practice this week. pic.twitter.com/BQr12kIi2b

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) December 13, 2020

John Millman will play Roberto Bautista Agut, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon two years ago who was beaten by Korda this month, in a match scheduled to start at 8pm.

The Spaniard has won all five meetings, but their matches at grand slam level have been tight tussles.

Chris O’Connell did well to qualify and will face Gael Monfils, though he can take confidence from fellow Sydneysider Max Purcell’s defeat of the top Frenchman last week at Eastbourne.

Marc Polmans also qualified and will play Yen-hsun Lu, who has used an injury-protected ranking to play.

Sam Stosur is the only Australian women in action and plays American Shelby Rogers, who was a regular combatant of world No 1 Ash Barty earlier this year.