"Andre Agassi is kind of tennis royalty in a way, and to have someone like that in my corner, it's pretty special" - Sebastian Korda

Sebastian Korda hailed Andre Agassi as "tennis royalty" in a recent interview, taking pride in the fact that someone as accomplished as the eight-time Grand Slam champion is in his corner.

The World No. 26 told ATPTour.com that he sent Agassi, his mentor, a selfie of himself with a photo of the American on site at the Citi Open. Korda is seeded eighth in the 2023 edition of the ATP 500 event, which Agassi won a record five times.

Korda went on to hail the former World No. 1 as a "very special" person to himself and is chuffed with all the help he has been receiving from the icon over the years.

“I sent him a selfie with me and him with the plaque in the back,” Korda said.

“Andre Agassi is just a very special person to me. He's obviously kind of tennis royalty in a way, and just to have someone like that in my corner, I think it's pretty special.”

Sebastian Korda added that he has fond memories of visiting the Citi Open with his dad Petr Korda and head coach Radek Stepanek during his teenage years, adding that it's nice to recollect those memories again:

“Washington has to be one of my favourite stops definitely on tour, just kind of being here as a 12, 13 and 14-year-old kid with my dad and Radek Stepanek,” Korda said.

“Just to kind of experience everything was really cool. Being in the locker room for the first time and just being around the players, I have a lot of great memories from this tournament. It's definitely very special,” he added.

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"I think Andre Agassi just smoked my dad" - Sebastian Korda on 1991 final at Citi Open

Andre Agassi (right) 2017 French Open - Day One

Out of his five titles at the Citi Open, Andre Agassi's second came in 1991, for which he beat Sebastian Korda's father, Petr, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Remembering that match, the 23-year-old noted how Agassi "smoked" his father in the championship round:

“I'm pretty sure Andre was playing night matches every single day, and my dad was playing first on at like one o'clock when it was really hot. And I think Andre just smoked my dad in the final.”

In this year's Citi Open, Korda is seeded eighth and will take on Alexander Shevchenko in the second round following a first-round bye.