In his first month of play since the passing of his father and tennis mentor, Zach Svajda put together a performance that would have made his dad proud.
The San Diegan upset top-seeded Sebastian Korda 6-4, 7-6(5) for the men’s singles championship of the ATP Challenger 100 portion of the Better Buzz Coffee San Diego Open at the Barnes Tennis Center. The Open simultaneously included a women’s field for the first time in the form of the ITF Women’s 100.
Tom Svajda, who coached at the Pacific Beach Tennis Club for more than two decades, died Oct. 12 at age 60 due to cancer.
“He’s on my mind all the time,” said the fourth-seeded Svajda, who began the year by reaching the first round of the Australian Open through qualifying. “Also, especially being here in San Diego, with the hometown crowd, was nice.”
There were no service breaks in the second set. In the tiebreaker, Svajda took advantage of two unforced errors and a service winner to take a 6-3 lead and ultimately prevailed on his second ace of the match for his seventh Challenger title.
The 5-foot-9 righthander who wears his cap backward displayed a repertoire including drop shots and slices to counter the power of the 6-3 Korda in the tight match.
“I just tried to stay as locked as possible,” said Svajda, 23, ranked No. 142. “In the tiebreaker, I looked to serve a little bigger, and then I aced him.”
Svajda claimed the $25,000 winner’s share of the $177,000 tournament purse in his first meeting against Korda, 25, of Bradenton, Fla.
Korda had a career-high No. 15 ranking in 2024 but slipped to No. 53 while recovering from a stress fracture in his right shin. His father, Petr, rose to No. 2 in 1998.
“I got a lot of confidence from this win, for sure,” said Svajda, who fell in the first round of this tourney a year ago. “So I’ll keep working hard and just keep going.”
Elvina Kalieva plays during Saturday’s Better Buzz Coffee San Diego Open final. (San Diego Open)
In the women’s final, fifth-seeded Elvina Kalieva, a Brooklyn native, prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 over No. 2 Elizabeth Mandlik in a match that was more colorful than consistent in quality between players who last had career-high rankings two years ago.
Matters reached a turning point in the second set, when Mandlik had a drop shot ruled out despite appearing to most all to be just inside the sideline before spinning out.
Out of challenges at that point, she instead addressed the chair umpire.
“You’re a joke. You’re a joke,” said Mandlik, 24, of Boca Raton, Fla., ranked No. 182. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Kalieva took the next two points for a service break that increased her lead to 5-3. A few points later, when Kalievea’s serve was ruled out, Mandlik sarcastically shouted, “No, it’s good,” drawing chuckles from the crowd.
Mandlik finished the match 0-for-8 on challenges. The only successful challenge went Kalievea’s way.
“The calls were both ways. So it was far,” said Kalieva, 22, ranked No. 204. I just tried to stay focused. That’s all.”
Mandlik, the daughter of tennis icon Hana Mandlikova, had 11 service winners and two aces in the first set, but then struggled on service. To close the match, she lost service on straight points.
Kalieva otherwise took charge in the third set with an increased all-court game.
“I like that I found a way to win,” said Kalieva, who earned $15,000 from a $100,000 purse. “In the beginning, it was a rocky start.”
The women’s bracket included three local players who each lost in the first round — Carlsbad’s Julieta Pareja and San Diego’s Haley Giavara and Katerine Hui. Svajda’s younger brother, Trevor, a junior at SMU, also fell in the opening round.