Sebastian Korda’s 2025 looked promising. What can he salvage?

Maybe it’s the chill way he ambles around the court. Maybe it’s his youthful-looking blond hair. Maybe it’s his generally polite manner when he’s answering questions. But Sebastian Korda doesn’t seem like a guy with a foul mouth to me.

His brain, apparently, can be a different story.

Asked what he was thinking after he lost the second set to Kamil Majchrzak at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm on Wednesday, Korda admitted, “A lot of bad words, that’s for sure.”

Does it qualify as letting off steam if you swear inside your head?

Either way, it worked for the American. He squeaked through a tight and well-played third set, 7-5. Two days earlier, he had found a way to edge a higher-ranked opponent, Alexei Popyrin, in a match that also went the distance.

“I’m battling three sets every match,” Korda said with a smile. “Causing a lot of heart attacks at home.”

The folks back home, provided their hearts survived, will take the wins no matter how they can get them. Korda was just 17-14 on the season before this week, and he hasn’t reached a semifinal since January. The people in his camp may also have been happy to hear something else that he said after his win over Majchrzak.

“We both played a pretty high level. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.”

Up until now, “fun” was not the first word that came to mind to describe Korda’s 2025.

It’s hard to remember at this point, but back in January, this had the makings of a statement season. Korda had turned 25 and was entering his prime. After a long series of injuries and surgeries, he was healthy. He had reached a career-high No. 15, and his first Masters 1000 semifinal, in August 2024. And he began the year by making the final at the Australian Open tune-up in Adelaide.

“Is this the year Seb Korda truly breaks out?” we asked in January.

So, far the answer has been no. Two familiar Korda issues—inconsistency and injury—returned almost immediately. He lost early in Melbourne and muddled through the spring. A stress fracture to his shin kept him out of Wimbledon, and when he returned at the US Open, he had to retire from his first match, after just two sets, with a back and hip injury. His ranking dropped from 22^nd to 86^th, and now stands at No. 60.

Even when he has been healthy enough to play, he has struggled to train.

“I mean practicing…Honestly, I didn’t practice the whole entire year,” he told Bolavip this week. “It’s been like an hour on court every single day, no fitness really. I wasn’t feeling great, hopefully it’s past me now.”

Perhaps worse, physical issues can turn psychological.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Korda said. “I’ve had a lot of injuries, but now it’s more mental than anything. It’s about starting up the machine again and trying to win some ugly matches.”

It’s tough to build any confidence, and keep your mind from wandering to bad places, when you can’t get out on the court.

“I think the motivation is still there, more so just getting down on yourself all the time,” Korda said. “That hurts a little bit. I’ve definitely gone through a lot of different emotions in the last year, but I’m definitely motivated and I want to keep playing and hopefully raise my level.”

Honestly, I didn’t practice the whole entire year. It’s been like an hour on court every single day, no fitness really. I wasn’t feeling great, hopefully it’s past me now. Sebastian Korda

His level, we know, can be raised. Korda was touted as the most likely U.S. man of this era to win a Grand Slam by Martina Navratilova, among others, when he jumped onto the scene in 2021. It was hard to disagree. He’s 6’5” and has the smoothest game of the Americans, especially with his two-handed backhand. One member of the USTA’s training staff told me that Korda’s appearance lit a fire under the guys who are older than him—Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe. But while they’ve continued their upward climb, Korda has stood by and watched as a new crew of countrymen—Ben Shelton, Learner Tien, Alex Michelsen, Brandon Nakashima—have, at least for the moment, passed him by.

Why, aside from injury, hasn’t he been better? Korda’s win on Wednesday showcased his strengths and weaknesses. He cracked 10 aces and blistered nearly 60 winners over three sets. But with that slew of winners came a slew of mistakes as well.

Korda’s down-the-line backhand was a thing of beauty. Perhaps because it’s such a natural shot for him, though, he tends to play with little margin on that side, sending the ball low over the net and landing it near the sidelines more often than necessary.

“You have absolute brilliance from him, but also lots of unforced errors,” as one of the match commentators put it.

It doesn’t sound brilliant to say that a player’s problem is just that he makes too many mistakes—but it may be as simple as that for Korda.

On Friday, he’ll need more brilliance, and fewer mistakes, when he faces Casper Ruud.

Maybe he can salvage enough from 2025 that we can start asking if 2026 will finally be his year.