Petr Korda

Petr Korda

Country (sports)	Czechoslovakia (1987–1992)  Czech Republic
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco & Bradenton, Florida
Born	(1968-01-23) 23 January 1968 (age 56) Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	1987
Retired	2005[1]
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$10,448,900
Singles
Career record	410–248 (62.3%)
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 2 (2 February 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1998)
French Open	F (1992)
Wimbledon	QF (1998)
US Open	QF (1995, 1997)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (1992)
Grand Slam Cup	W (1993)
Doubles
Career record	234–160
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 10 (11 June 1990)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1996)
French Open	F (1990)
Wimbledon	2R (1990, 1991)
US Open	3R (1989, 1991, 1995)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	SF (1996)
Hopman Cup	W (1994)
Last updated on: July 1999.

Petr Korda (born 23 January 1968) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He won the 1998 Australian Open and was runner-up at the 1992 French Open, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 2 in February 1998. Korda tested positive for doping in July 1998 at Wimbledon, and was banned from September 1999 for 12 months, but he retired shortly before the ban.^[2]

Tennis career

Juniors

He 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 boys' doubles title at the French Open. Korda and Suk ranked the joint-World No. 1 junior doubles players that year.

Junior Slam results:

• Australian Open: -
• French Open: 3R (1986)
• Wimbledon: QF (1986)
• US Open: QF (1986)

Professional career

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

In 1990, Korda and Goran Ivanišević finished runners-up in the men's doubles at the French Open, and as a result, Korda reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 10. In 1992, he rose to the men's singles final at the French Open beating Christian Bergström, Shuzo Matsuoka, Michiel Schapers, Jaime Oncins, Andrei Cherkasov and Henri Leconte, before he was defeated in straight sets by defending champion Jim Courier 7–5, 6–2, 6–1.

A highlight of Korda's career include winning the Grand Slam Cup in 1993, with five-set wins in the semifinal and final over Pete Sampras and Michael Stich, the number 1 and 2 tennis players in the world at that time. Korda also was a part of the Czech Republic's team which won the Hopman Cup in 1994. In 1996 he teamed-up with Stefan Edberg to win the men's doubles title at the Australian Open. He also upset the defending champion, Pete Sampras, in five sets in the fourth round of the 1997 US Open.

The crowning moment of Korda's career came in 1998, when he defeated Albert Portas, Scott Draper, Vincent Spadea, Cédric Pioline, Jonas Björkman and Karol Kučera to face 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 Grand Slam singles title in just 1 hour and 25 minutes. The win propelled him to his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. At four tournaments in 1998, Korda had the world No. 1 ranking in his sights, but he lost to Karol Kučera in Antwerp, Marcelo Ríos at Indian Wells, Tim Henman in Miami and Richard Krajicek in Monte Carlo.

Suspension and retirement

Following his quarterfinal match against Tim Henman at the Wimbledon 1998, Korda tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.^[3][4] This came to light in December 1998 when the appeals board of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) accepted his denial of intent and agreed not to ban him, instead merely withholding his Wimbledon prize money and ranking points.^[3] The ensuing controversy caused the ITF to launch an appeal against its own decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).^[3] In January 1999 Korda obtained a ruling in the High Court of England and Wales that the ITF could not appeal,^[5] but the High Court ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal. In July 1999 the CAS allowed the ITF appeal and on 1 September 1999 the ITF banned Korda for 12 months and stripped him of all prize money and ranking points since the failed test.^[3]

Before the ban, Korda had already announced his retirement, after losing to Danny Sapsford and failing to qualify for Wimbledon 1999.^[3] However, after his ban he competed in Czech ATP Challenger Tour events: the Prague Open (singles and doubles) in December 2000 and the Czech Open (doubles) in 2001 and 2005.

Personal life

Korda married Regina Rajchrtová, a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. They have two daughters and a son. The oldest, Jessica, was born on 27 February 1993; she is a professional golfer, and finished 19th in the 2008 U.S. Women's Open as a 15-year-old, with Korda as her caddy.

At the 2013 U.S. Women's Open, Korda caddied for another one of his daughters, Nelly, who was 14 years old at the time and the youngest player in the tournament.^[6] As of March 2022, Nelly was the No.2 ranked woman golfer in the world and was previously ranked No. 1. Nelly won the gold medal in women's golf at the 2020 Summer Olympics (staged in Tokyo in 2021).^[7]

Korda's son, Sebastian, is a tennis player representing the United States and became the top-ranked junior in the world after winning the junior boys' Australian Open title in 2018.^[8]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1992	French Open	Clay	Jim Courier	5–7, 2–6, 1–6
Win	1998	Australian Open	Hard	Marcelo Ríos	6–2, 6–2, 6–2

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1990	French Open	Clay	Goran Ivanišević	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez Vicario	5–7, 3–6
Win	1996	Australian Open	Hard	Stefan Edberg	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	7–5, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1

Other significant finals

Grand Slam Cup

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1993	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Michael Stich	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 11–9

Masters Series finals

Singles: 3 (1–2)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1991	Canada Masters	Hard	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	1994	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Pete Sampras	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win	1997	Stuttgart Masters	Carpet (i)	Richard Krajicek	7–6(8–6), 6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (3–1)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Win	1990	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Andrés Gómez Javier Sánchez	6–4, 7–6
Loss	1992	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Karel Nováček	Boris Becker Michael Stich	4–6, 4–6
Win	1993	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Stefan Edberg	Paul Haarhuis Mark Koevermans	3–6, 6–2, 7–6
Win	1993	Cincinnati Masters	Hard	Andre Agassi	Stefan Edberg Henrik Holm	7–6, 6–4

ATP career finals

Singles: 27 (10 titles, 17 runners-up)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Oct 1989	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet	Kevin Curren	2–6, 5–7
Loss	2.	May 1991	Tampa, US	Clay	Richey Reneberg	6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	3.	Jul 1991	Washington, D.C., US	Hard	Andre Agassi	3–6, 4–6
Loss	4.	Jul 1991	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Andrei Chesnokov	6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Win	1.	Aug 1991	New Haven, US	Hard	Goran Ivanišević	6–4, 6–2
Win	2.	Oct 1991	Berlin, Germany	Carpet	Arnaud Boetsch	6–3, 6–4
Loss	5.	May 1992	Munich, Germany	Clay	Magnus Larsson	4–6, 6–4, 1–6
Loss	6.	Jun 1992	French Open, Paris	Clay	Jim Courier	5–7, 2–6, 1–6
Win	3.	Jul 1992	Washington, D.C., US	Hard	Henrik Holm	6–4, 6–4
Win	4.	Aug 1992	Long Island, US	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6–2, 6–2
Loss	7.	Oct 1992	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Boris Becker	6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	8.	Oct 1992	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Guy Forget	3–6, 2–6
Win	5.	Oct 1992	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Gianluca Pozzi	6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1
Loss	9.	Aug 1993	New Haven, US	Hard	Andrei Medvedev	5–7, 4–6
Loss	10.	Oct 1993	Sydney, Australia	Hard (i)	Jaime Yzaga	2–6, 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–7(7–9)
Win	6.	Dec 1993	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet	Michael Stich	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 11–9
Loss	11.	Feb 1994	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Boris Becker	2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss	12.	Mar 1994	Indian Wells, US	Hard	Pete Sampras	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	13.	May 1994	Munich, Germany	Clay	Michael Stich	2–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win	7.	Jan 1996	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Younes El Aynaoui	7–6(7–5), 2–6, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	14.	Jul 1996	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Carpet	David Prinosil	1–6, 2–6
Loss	15.	Jun 1997	Halle, Germany	Grass	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–7(7–9)
Loss	16.	Jul 1997	Washington, D.C., US	Hard	Michael Chang	7–5, 2–6, 1–6
Win	8.	Oct 1997	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet	Richard Krajicek	7–6(8–6), 6–2, 6–4
Loss	17.	Nov 1997	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7(2–7), 4–6
Win	9.	Jan 1998	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Fabrice Santoro	6–0, 6–3
Win	10.	Feb 1998	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Marcelo Ríos	6–2, 6–2, 6–2

Doubles: 24 (10 titles, 14 runners-up)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Oct 1987	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Leonardo Lavalle Claudio Panatta	6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Win	1.	Jul 1988	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Milan Šrejber	Andrés Gómez Emilio Sánchez	7–6, 7–6
Win	2.	Aug 1988	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Clay	Jaroslav Navrátil	Thomas Muster Horst Skoff	7–5, 7–6
Loss	2.	Jul 1989	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Milan Šrejber	Cássio Motta Todd Witsken	4–6, 3–6
Win	3.	Jul 1989	Stuttgart, West Germany	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Florin Segărceanu Cyril Suk	6–3, 6–4
Loss	3.	Aug 1989	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Emilio Sánchez Javier Sánchez	5–7, 6–7
Loss	4.	Aug 1989	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Clay	Gene Mayer	Jordi Arrese Horst Skoff	4–6, 4–6
Win	4.	Apr 1990	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Andrés Gómez Javier Sánchez	6–4, 7–6
Loss	5.	May 1990	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Udo Riglewski Michael Stich	1–6, 4–6
Loss	6.	Jun 1990	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Goran Ivanišević	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	5–7, 3–6
Loss	7.	Aug 1990	New Haven, US	Hard	Goran Ivanišević	Jeff Brown Scott Melville	6–2, 5–7, 0–6
Win	5.	Aug 1991	New Haven, US	Hard	Wally Masur	Jeff Brown Scott Melville	W/O
Win	6.	Oct 1991	Berlin, Germany	Carpet	Karel Nováček	Jan Siemerink Daniel Vacek	3–6, 7–5, 7–5
Loss	8.	Sep 1991	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	Jakob Hlasek Patrick McEnroe	6–3, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	9.	Apr 1992	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Karel Nováček	Boris Becker Michael Stich	4–6, 4–6
Loss	10.	Jul 1992	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Cyril Suk	Hendrik Jan Davids Libor Pimek	W/O
Win	7.	Apr 1993	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Stefan Edberg	Paul Haarhuis Mark Koevermans	3–6, 6–2, 7–6
Win	8.	Jun 1993	Halle, Germany	Grass	Cyril Suk	Mike Bauer Marc-Kevin Goellner	7–6, 5–7, 6–3
Win	9.	Aug 1993	Cincinnati, US	Hard	Andre Agassi	Stefan Edberg Henrik Holm	7–6, 6–4
Loss	11.	May 1994	Munich, Germany	Clay	Boris Becker	Yevgeny Kafelnikov David Rikl	6–7, 5–7
Loss	12.	Feb 1995	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Karel Nováček	Boris Becker Guy Forget	2–6, 4–6
Loss	13.	Jul 1995	Washington, D.C., US	Hard	Cyril Suk	Olivier Delaître Jeff Tarango	6–1, 3–6, 2–6
Win	10.	Jan 1996	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Stefan Edberg	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	7–5, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1
Loss	14.	Aug 1996	Indianapolis, US	Hard	Cyril Suk	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	6–7, 6–4, 4–6

Performance timelines

Singles

¹ Held as Stockholm Masters until 1994, Stuttgart Masters from 1995 to 2001.

Doubles

¹ Held as Stockholm Masters until 1994, Stuttgart Masters from 1995 to 2001.

Top 10 wins

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	KR
1990
1.	Jay Berger	10	Philadelphia, United States	Carpet (i)	QF	7–6, 6–1	53
2.	Brad Gilbert	5	Davis Cup, Prague, Czechoslovakia	Carpet (i)	RR	6–2, 6–3, 6–3	26
1991
3.	Andre Agassi	6	Montreal, Canada	Hard	2R	7–6(7–3), 6–2	40
4.	Jim Courier	5	Montreal, Canada	Hard	SF	3–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–2	40
5.	Ivan Lendl	5	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	3R	5–7, 6–1, 6–4	13
6.	Sergi Bruguera	9	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	3R	6–2, 6–4	11
1992
7.	Pete Sampras	4	Davis Cup, Fort Myers, United States	Hard	RR	6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 6–3	10
8.	Pete Sampras	4	Rome, Italy	Clay	QF	1–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–3	9
9.	Michael Stich	5	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	6–3, 6–2	8
10.	Pete Sampras	3	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	6–3, 6–1	8
11.	Stefan Edberg	2	Long Island, United States	Hard	SF	7–5, 7–5	6
12.	Ivan Lendl	9	Long Island, United States	Hard	F	6–2, 6–2	6
13.	Ivan Lendl	9	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	SF	6–4, 6–3	7
1993
14.	Stefan Edberg	3	Miami, United States	Hard	QF	7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5)	5
15.	Michael Stich	10	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	7–6(7–0), 6–1	6
16.	Stefan Edberg	3	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	6–1, 6–1	6
17.	Michael Stich	7	Davis Cup, Halle, Germany	Grass	RR	6–2, 7–6(7–5)	9
18.	Ivan Lendl	7	Montreal, Canada	Hard	QF	7–6(7–4), 6–1	11
19.	Sergi Bruguera	4	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet (i)	QF	4–6, 6–0, 6–4	12
20.	Pete Sampras	1	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet (i)	SF	3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 7–6(12–10), 13–11	12
21.	Michael Stich	2	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet (i)	F	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 11–9	12
1994
22.	Goran Ivanišević	7	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	QF	6–4, 4–6, 6–2	14
23.	Sergi Bruguera	4	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	SF	4–6, 6–1, 6–4	14
24.	Todd Martin	9	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	3R	6–4, 3–6, 6–2	14
25.	Magnus Gustafsson	10	Munich, Germany	Clay	QF	6–4, 6–4	13
26.	Stefan Edberg	3	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	6–1, 6–4	12
27.	Stefan Edberg	6	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	2R	4–6, 6–1, 6–4	20
1995
28.	Michael Chang	5	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	2R	6–4, 6–4, 6–4	56
1996
29.	Goran Ivanišević	5	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Carpet (i)	2R	7–6(7–5), 6–2	49
30.	Marcelo Ríos	10	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	2R	6–3, 6–4	37
1997
31.	Thomas Muster	4	Halle, Germany	Grass	QF	6–3, 6–4	27
32.	Pete Sampras	1	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	4R	6–7(4–7), 7–5, 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 7–6(7–3)	16
33.	Marcelo Ríos	10	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	QF	6–3, 6–4	17
34.	Pat Rafter	3	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	SF	6–4, 7–6(7–3)	17
1998
35.	Jonas Björkman	4	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	QF	3–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2	7
36.	Marcelo Ríos	8	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	F	6–2, 6–2, 6–2	7
37.	Jonas Björkman	7	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	6–3, 6–1	2

References

External links

• Petr Korda at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Petr Korda at the International Tennis Federation
• Petr Korda at the Davis Cup
• Sunday Times article 30 August, 2009