Korda withdrawal gifts Lehecka day off ahead of Winston-Salem Open final

Jiri Lehecka benefited from the forfeit of Sebastian Korda on Saturday night and will play the winner of the match between Croat Borna Coric, the top seed, and Argentinian Sebastian Baez, the No 6 seed, in the final

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Tennis Majors

August 26, 2023

Winston-Salem Open •Semi-final • completed

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S. KordavsJ. Lehecka

Just hours after defeating France’s Richard Gasquet in a thrilling three-set match, Sebastian Korda announced that he was withdrawing from the tournament, giving Jiri Lehecka a walkover into the Winston-Salem Open final on Sunday.

Korda had rolled his ankle in the third set against Gasquet, before managing to continue and win the set in a tiebreaker.

However, following the match, Korda announced that his ankle “wasn’t getting any better,” with the American being forced to make a “tough but necessary decision” to pull out of the tournament.

In the third set of his match against 🇫🇷 Richard Gasquet, 🇺🇸 Sebastian Korda suffered an ankle turn.#wsopen | #breakingnews | #korda pic.twitter.com/6aoD6Oa6vG
— Winston-Salem Open (@WSOpen) August 25, 2023

The decision by Korda means that Jiri Lehecka gets a day off on Saturday, while top seed Borna Coric and No 6 seed Sebastian Baez fight it out for the remaining spot in the final at Wake Forest Tennis Complex on Sunday.

Jiri Lehecka won against American qualifier Mitchell Krueger (2-6, 6-2, 6-3), German Dominik Koepfer (6-3, 3-6, 6-4) and Australian Max Purcell (7-6 (4), 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Winston-Salem tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Korda, ranked No 33, defeated Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (6-2, 6-3), Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, the No 14 seed (7-6 (5), 6-3) and Frenchman Richard Gasquet, the No 12 seed (4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7)).