From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petr Korda (Pronounced: KOR-da ) (b. January 23, 1968, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He is best known for winning the Australian Open in 1998 and for becoming the first well-known player to be suspended for ingesting a banned substance shortly thereafter.
[edit] Career
[edit] Junior
Korda first came to the tennis world's attention as a promising junior player. In 1985, he partnered with fellow Czech Cyril Suk to win the boy's doubles title at the French Open. Korda and Suk ranked the joint-World No. 1 junior doubles players that year.
[edit] Senior
Korda turned professional in 1987. He won his first career doubles title in 1988, and his first top-level singles title in 1991. Korda was involved in four Grand Slam finals during his career — two in singles and two in doubles.
In 1990, Korda and Goran Ivanišević finished runners-up in the men's doubles at the French Open. In 1992, he rose to the men's singles final at the French Open, where he was defeated in straight sets by defending champion Jim Courier 7–5, 6–2, 6–1. In 1996, he teamed-up with Stefan Edberg to win the men's doubles title at the Australian Open.
The crowning moment of Korda's career came in 1998, when he faced Marcelo Ríos in the men's singles final at the Australian Open. Korda dominated the match from start to finish by winning in straight sets 6–2, 6–2, 6–2 and claimed his first (and only) Grand Slam singles title. The win propelled him to his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. (His career-high doubles ranking was World No. 10.)
Other highlights of Korda's career included winning the Grand Slam Cup in 1993, being part of the Czech Republic's team which won the Hopman Cup in 1994, and upsetting defending champion Pete Sampras in five sets in the fourth round of the 1997 U.S. Open, en route to reaching the quarterfinals.
A few months after his Australian Open victory in 1998, Korda became the first high-profile tennis player discovered ingesting a banned substance. Following a match at Wimbledon, Korda tested positive for nandrolone. Subsequently, he was banned from the sport for one year. Korda did not return to the professional tour; the ban effectively marked the end of his career.
Korda married a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia, Regina Rajchrtova. They have a daughter named Jessica Regina, born on February 27, 1993.
Korda was also known for the "Scissors Kick" which he would do at midcourt after winning matches.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Wins (1)
[edit] Runner-up (1)
[edit] ATP Masters Series singles finals
[edit] Wins (1)
[edit] Runner-ups (2)
[edit] Singles titles (10)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (1) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| Grand Slam Cup (1) |
| ATP Masters Series (1) |
| ATP Tour (7) |
|
| Titles by Surface |
| Hard (6) |
| Grass (0) |
| Clay (0) |
| Carpet (4) |
|
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
19 August 1991 |
New Haven, U.S. |
Hard |
Goran Ivanišević |
6–4, 6–2 |
| 2. |
14 October 1991 |
Berlin, Germany |
Carpet |
Arnaud Boetsch |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 3. |
20 July 1992 |
Washington D.C., U.S. |
Hard |
Henrik Holm |
6–4, 6–4 |
| 4. |
31 August 1992 |
Long Island, U.S. |
Hard |
Ivan Lendl |
6–2, 6–2 |
| 5. |
26 October 1992 |
Vienna, Austria |
Carpet |
Gianluca Pozzi |
6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1 |
| 6. |
13 December 1993 |
Grand Slam Cup, Munich |
Carpet |
Michael Stich |
2–6, 6–4, 7–6, 2–6, 11-9 |
| 7. |
8 January 1996 |
Doha, Qatar |
Hard |
Younes El Aynaoui |
7–6, 2–6, 7–6 |
| 8. |
27 October 1997 |
Stuttgart Indoor, Germany |
Carpet |
Richard Krajicek |
7–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 9. |
12 January 1998 |
Doha, Qatar |
Hard |
Fabrice Santoro |
6–0, 6–3 |
| 10. |
2 February 1998 |
Australian Open, Melbourne |
Hard |
Marcelo Ríos |
6–2, 6–2, 6–2 |
[edit] Runner-ups (17)
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
30 October 1989 |
Frankfurt, Germany |
Carpet |
Kevin Curren |
6–2, 7–5 |
| 2. |
6 May 1991 |
Tampa, U.S. |
Clay |
Richey Reneberg |
4–6, 6–4, 6–2 |
| 3. |
22 July 1991 |
Washington D.C., U.S. |
Hard |
Andre Agassi |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 4. |
29 July 1991 |
Montreal, Canada |
Hard |
Andrei Chesnokov |
3–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| 5. |
4 May 1992 |
Munich, Germany |
Clay |
Magnus Larsson |
6–4, 4–6, 6–1 |
| 6. |
8 June 1992 |
French Open, Paris |
Clay |
Jim Courier |
7–5, 6–2, 6–1 |
| 7. |
5 October 1992 |
Basel, Switzerland |
Hard (i) |
Boris Becker |
3–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 8. |
12 October 1992 |
Toulouse, France |
Hard (i) |
Guy Forget |
6–3, 6–2 |
| 9. |
23 August 1993 |
New Haven, U.S. |
Hard |
Andrei Medvedev |
7–5, 6–4 |
| 10. |
11 October 1993 |
Sydney Indoor, Australia |
Hard (i) |
Jaime Yzaga |
6–4, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6 |
| 11. |
14 February 1994 |
Milan, Italy |
Carpet |
Boris Becker |
6–2, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 12. |
7 March 1994 |
Indian Wells, U.S. |
Hard |
Pete Sampras |
4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 13. |
2 May 1994 |
Munich, Germany |
Clay |
Michael Stich |
6–2, 2–6, 6–3 |
| 14. |
22 July 1996 |
Ostrava, Czech Republic |
Carpet |
David Prinosil |
6–1, 6–2 |
| 15. |
16 June 1997 |
Halle, Germany |
Grass |
Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
7–6, 6–7, 7–6 |
| 16. |
21 July 1997 |
Washington D.C., U.S. |
Hard |
Michael Chang |
5–7, 6–2, 6–1 |
| 17. |
10 November 1997 |
Moscow, Russia |
Carpet |
Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
7–6, 6–4 |
[edit] Grand Slam performance timeline
A = did not participate in the tournament
[edit] Doubles titles (10)
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Partnering |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
1988 |
Gstaad, Switzerland |
Clay |
Milan Šrejber |
Andrés Gómez
Emilio Sánchez |
7–6, 7–6 |
| 2. |
1988 |
Prague, Czechoslovakia |
Clay |
Jaroslav Navrotil |
Thomas Muster
Horst Skoff |
7–5, 7–6 |
| 3. |
1989 |
Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany |
Clay |
Tomáš Šmíd |
Florin Segărceanu
Cyril Suk |
6–7, 6–3, 6–1 |
| 4. |
1990 |
Monte Carlo, Monaco |
Clay |
Tomáš Šmíd |
Andrés Gómez
Javier Sánchez |
6–2, 6–1 |
| 5. |
1991 |
New Haven, U.S. |
Hard |
Wally Masur |
Jeff Brown
Scott Melville |
W/O |
| 6. |
1991 |
Berlin, Germany |
Carpet |
Karel Nováček |
Jan Siemerink
Daniel Vacek |
3–6, 7–5, 7–5 |
| 7. |
1993 |
Monte Carlo, Monaco |
Clay |
Stefan Edberg |
Paul Haarhuis
Mark Koevermans |
6–2, 2–6, 7–5 |
| 8. |
1993 |
Halle, Germany |
Grass |
Cyril Suk |
Mike Bauer
Marc-Kevin Goellner |
7–6, 5–7, 6–3 |
| 9. |
1993 |
Cincinnati, U.S. |
Hard |
Andre Agassi |
Stefan Edberg
Henrik Holm |
6–4, 7–6 |
| 10. |
1996 |
Australian Open, Melbourne |
Hard |
Stefan Edberg |
Sébastien Lareau
Alex O'Brien |
7–5, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1 |
[edit] Runner-ups (14)
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Partnering |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
1987 |
Palermo, Italy |
Clay |
Tomáš Šmíd |
Leonardo Lavalle
Claudio Panatta |
3–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2. |
1989 |
Gstaad, Switzerland |
Clay |
Milan Šrejber |
Cassio Motta
Todd Witsken |
6–4, 6–3 |
| 3. |
1989 |
Kitzbuhel, Austria |
Clay |
Tomáš Šmíd |
Emilio Sánchez
Javier Sánchez |
7–5, 7–6 |
| 4. |
1989 |
Prague, Czechoslovakia |
Clay |
Gene Mayer |
Jordi Arrese
Horst Skoff |
6–4, 6–4 |
| 5. |
1990 |
Munich, Germany |
Clay |
Tomáš Šmíd |
Udo Riglewski
Michael Stich |
6–1, 6–4 |
| 6. |
1990 |
French Open, Paris |
Clay |
Goran Ivanišević |
Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez |
7–5, 6–3 |
| 7. |
1990 |
New Haven, U.S. |
Hard |
Goran Ivanišević |
Jeff Brown
Scott Melville |
2–6, 7–5, 6–0 |
| 8. |
1991 |
Basel, Switzerland |
Hard (i) |
John McEnroe |
Jakob Hlasek
Patrick McEnroe |
3–6, 7–6, 7–6 |
| 9. |
1992 |
Monte Carlo, Monaco |
Clay |
Karel Nováček |
Boris Becker
Michael Stich |
6–4, 6–4 |
| 10. |
1992 |
Gstaad, Switzerland |
Clay |
Cyril Suk |
Hendrik Jan Davids
Libor Pimek |
W/O |
| 11. |
1994 |
Munich, Germany |
Clay |
Boris Becker |
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
David Rikl |
7–6, 7–5 |
| 12. |
1995 |
Milan, Italy |
Carpet |
Karel Nováček |
Boris Becker
Guy Forget |
6–2, 6–4 |
| 13. |
1995 |
Washington D.C., U.S. |
Hard |
Cyril Suk |
Olivier Delaître
Jeff Tarango |
1–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 14. |
1996 |
Indianapolis, U.S. |
Hard |
Cyril Suk |
Jim Grabb
Richey Reneberg |
7–6, 4–6, 6–4 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links