Adelaide International 2023: Andy Murray vs Sebastian Korda Tennis Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2023 Adelaide International as Andy Murray takes on Sebastian Korda in the Round of 32 on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Andy Murray will begin his 2023 Australian Open preparations in earnest as he returns to the Adelaide International for the first time since 2006. But he has drawn the short straw in the form of Sebastian Korda. Who will prevail?

Andy Murray enjoyed a productive stint playing two high-quality matches at the Battle for the Brits during the off-season, beating rising star Jack Draper and losing to veteran Dan Evans. The Scot says he is in the best possible shape since coming back from his career-threatening hip surgery but lauds that he is one big injury away from retirement. Murray wasn’t particularly happy with his physical form in the last six months of 2022 but was particularly pleased with his ranking jump. He went from outside the world’s Top 100 to inside the Top 50. Murray will likely chalk up bigger goals for the 2023 season and could be a darkhorse at the Adelaide International this week.

Sebastian Korda, meanwhile, had his own injury nightmares in 2022. The American had a difficult first half of the campaign due to a persistent foot problem which forced him to miss Wimbledon. But he bounced back superbly in the second half of the season, reaching the latter stages of nearly every ATP event he played in. He made back-to-back finals in Gijon and Antwerp but fell agonizingly close to winning his second ATP title. Korda also came within a whisker of earning a seeding spot at the Australian Open, but missed out from the top 32 seeds (currently ranked 33 in the world).

Sebastian Korda leads Andy Murray 1-0 in their head-to-head. Korda defeated Murray at the newly-minted Gijon Open last autumn, winning a topsy-turvy quarterfinal in three sets. The American hasn’t played since October – where he lost to Alex De Minaur at the Paris Masters. It will be difficult to assess his game. As for Murray, getting a few matches under his belt last month slightly puts him at an advantage. The Scot might nick this.