PARIS -- Sebastian Korda was 9, heart set on a hockey career, when he went with his father, Petr, to the 2009 U.S. Open. By then, Petr -- 1998 Australian Open champion, 1992 French Open finalist -- had retired as a competitor and turned to coaching.
Sebastian watched Petr's player, Radek Stepanek, face Novak Djokovic at night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"Totally packed. I thought it was the coolest thing. Went home, came back the next year, and said, 'This is exactly what I want to do,' " Korda said. "The rest is history."
"Sebi," as he's called, is now 20 and made a bit of history at Roland Garros on Friday, beating Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 in a rain-interrupted match to become the youngest American man in the fourth round in Paris since Michael Chang was 19 in 1991.
"Everybody is always asking him: 'Are you the son of Petr Korda?' Which I would love to change in the future," the elder Korda said in a telephone interview, "so that people ask me, 'Are you Sebastian's father?' "
The 213th-ranked Sebastian Korda is the first qualifier to make it this far at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament since 2011.
There's this, too: He joined another 20-year-old -- 239th-ranked French wild-card entry Hugo Gaston -- as the first men from outside the top 200 to make it to the French Open's last 16 since 2002.
"Amazing," said Gaston, who sat in his sideline seat and cried into a towel while fans chanted his first name after a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 upset of Stan Wawrinka, whose three Grand Slam trophies include the 2015 title at Roland Garros.
On Sunday, Korda plays 12-time champion Rafael Nadal, while Gaston meets U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
The other men's matchups on the draw's bottom half: No. 6 Alexander Zverev, the runner-up to Thiem in New York, against 19-year-old Jannik Sinner; and No. 12 Diego Schwartzman against Lorenzo Sonego.
Women's fourth-rounders set up by Friday's results are No. 1 Simona Halep vs. 19-year-old Iga Swiatek; No. 3 Elina Svitolina vs. Caroline Garcia; No. 5 Kiki Bertens vs. Martina Trevisan; and Nadia Podorska vs. Barbora Krejcikova.
When the prospect of facing Nadal was mentioned at Korda's post-match news conference -- which took place while the King of Clay still was in the second set of his 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Stefano Travaglia -- there was zero hesitation.
"I'm praying that he wins. I mean, he's my biggest idol. He's one of the reasons I play tennis. ... From him, I have the never-give-up mentality. Whenever I'm on court, I try to be like him," said Korda, whose tour-level record was 0-3 until this groundbreaking week, which included a win over No. 21 seed John Isner.
And then he dropped this footnote: "Growing up, I named my cat 'Rafa' after him. That says a lot about how much I love the guy."
In addition to his father's genes and advice, Sebastian and his sisters got plenty from Mom, too: Regina was No. 26 in the WTA rankings.
Sebastian Korda showed a veteran's poise Friday, staying calm when a rain delay of more than two hours arrived right after he blew a 40-love lead to drop a game.
He donned headphones to wait out the weather in the locker room, then finished the job quickly when play resumed.
"Things aren't always going to be smooth, aren't always going to be easy," said Dean Goldfine, a national coach with the U.S. Tennis Association player development program who is among the group that works with Korda. "He's gotten a lot more patient with what he can control and what he can't control."
The two-handed backhand is dangerous. The slice is improving. Increased lower-body strength -- thanks to "growing into" his 6-5 frame, as Goldfine put it, and working on his physique during tennis' pandemic-forced hiatus -- boosted his forehand.
As for a long-term aim?
"My dad, he's incredibly supportive, but my goal in life is to win two Grand Slams," Sebastian Korda said, "so I have one more than he has."
