SAN FRANCISCO – Jessica Korda was packing to come to San Francisco when she watched young brother Sebastian win his first ATP title at the Emilia-Romagna Open last Saturday. As she pulled out of the driveway in South Florida, she realized that she’d forgotten a few things, including her contact lenses.
The Kordas don’t want to look too far into the future this week at The Olympic Club. As Jessica and Nelly prepare for Round 1 of the U.S. Women’s Open, where they’ll be grouped together for the first time at a major, their parents are thrilled not to have to walk 36 holes a day. Typically, the sisters are put in separate waves.
It was a major week for all the Korda siblings as Sebastian, now ranked 50th in the world, competed in the French Open. It’s entirely possible that all three Kordas could be at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
USWO: Tee times, TV | Photos | Yardage book
“It would be really cool,” said Jessica. “I think that’s something that’s so far in the future that I’m not necessarily looking at it just yet. I know that’s probably not the right thing to say, but we still have a lot of majors left, and girls are playing well, and I’m kind of teetering. If it happens, great. If not, honestly, I’ll be OK.”
Jessica, 28, is currently No. 11 in the Rolex Rankings while younger sister Nelly is fourth. The maximum number of women who can represent the U.S. in Toyko is four, and all four of those players must be ranked 15th or higher. Jessica said she tries not to look at the rankings too much.
“I know that it’s talked about just because it would be kind of like a big thing,” she said, “but, again, there’s so much golf between now and then. I think we have like this major, KPMG, and Evian. There’s just a lot of golf.”
Actually, the cutoff for qualifying is June 28, immediately following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club (before the Evian). Only four tournaments remain, including this week’s USWO.
Nelly Korda, left, and Jessica Korda pose for a photo during a practice round at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. (Copyright USGA/Jeff Marsh)
The women’s competition for the 2021 Olympics will take place Aug. 4-7 at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Danielle Kang (No. 6), Lexi Thompson (No. 9) and Ally Ewing (No. 15) join the Kordas in what’s shaping up to be a tight race to Tokyo.
While Petr Korda is the only member of the family with a major, having won the 1998 Australian Open, wife Regina is the only member of the family who has competed in the Olympics. Regina represented Czechoslovakia in tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and reached a career-high world ranking of 26 before injury took her out of the game.
Sebastian Korda, 20, became the first American man in 11 years to lift a trophy on European clay last week. In men’s tennis, players must be ranked inside the top 56 to qualify and a total of four Americans can compete.
Last year at the French Open, Sebastian told reporters that Nelly, 22, is his best friend. As Nelly was vying to win her first major at the ANA Inspiration last fall, Sebastian was watching in Prague and clocked his heart rate at 87.
“I have a picture from it,” he said. “I was just completely stressed out.”
The inspiration and the stress works both ways, of course. All three Korda siblings now have a title in 2021, and their collective fame rises with each individual success.
“I get referred to as Petr Korda’s daughter and Jessica Korda’s little sister,” said Nelly, “and now I’m going to be referred to as Sebastian Korda’s little sister.”
Whatever the case, she’s cool with it.
