Petr Korda

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Petr Korda (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.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Junior 1.2 Senior 2 Grand Slam singles finals 2.1 Wins (1) 2.2 Runner-ups (1) 3 ATP Masters Series singles finals 3.1 Wins (1) 3.2 Runner-ups (2) 4 Singles titles (10) 5 External links

[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 major highlights of Korda's career included winning the Grand Slam Cup in 1993, and being part of the Czech Republic's team which won the Hopman Cup in 1994.

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 and, to all extents and purposes, the ban marked the end of a career during which he won ten singles titles and ten doubles titles.

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 known for the "Scissors Kick" which he would do at midcourt after winning matches.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1998	Australian Open	Marcelo Ríos	6-2, 6-2, 6-2

[edit] Runner-ups (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1992	French Open	Jim Courier	5-7, 2-6, 1-6

[edit] ATP Masters Series singles finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1997	Stuttgart	Richard Krajicek	7-6, 6-2, 6-4

[edit] Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	Montreal	Andrei Chesnokov	6-3, 4-6, 3-6
1994	Indian Wells	Pete Sampras	6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6

[edit] Singles titles (10)

• 1991 - New Haven, Berlin
• 1992 - Washington, Long Island, Vienna
• 1993 - Grand Slam Cup
• 1996 - Doha
• 1997 - Stuttgart Indoor
• 1998 - Doha, Australian Open

[edit] External links

• Official ATP Profile