Korda Looks to Repeat Against Sampras : Tennis: He defeated the No. 1 player in December in Munich and will get another chance today after beating Krickstein, 6-4, 6-4.

This isn’t Munich. The court isn’t indoors and Pete Sampras doesn’t have stomach cramps.

But Petr Korda learned in Germany what Stefan Edberg couldn’t figure out here Saturday at the Newsweek Champions Cup at Hyatt Grand Champions.

There is a way to beat the current No. 1 player in the world.

--Go five sets.

--Take 4 hours 31 minutes.

--Win, 13-11, in the fifth set.

Korda managed that last December in the semifinals of the $6-million Grand Slam Cup in Munich, defeating Sampras, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 7-6 (12-10), 13-11.

“It was one of the best matches I ever played, especially (because) I showed to the world how good a fighter I am,” Korda said.

Korda, 26, didn’t need to be a fighter Saturday at Indian Wells, breezing past Aaron Krickstein, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the final today against Sampras.

Sampras advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Edberg.

Korda’s serve was working Saturday.

“It’s not often that I lose a match where I never break serve,” said Krickstein, who is expected to move up 10 places in the rankings to No. 28 after victories this week over No. 5 Sergi Bruguera and No. 18 Alexander Volkov.

The challenge is merely beginning for No. 14 Korda, who beat No. 9 Todd Martin in the second round but benefited from the upsets of No. 3 Jim Courier and No. 8 Michael Chang.

“I think if Korda serves as well as he did today, he can definitely stay with him and possibly win,” Krickstein said. “But I’d be surprised if he serves tomorrow as well as he did today.”

Korda acknowledges that he has made some changes in his serve, but he isn’t giving any specifics. He has surprised people before--not the least of whom are Stefan Edberg, Sampras and Michael Stich.

Consecutively, all three of those players--all in five sets--fell to Korda in his tour de force at Munich. Edberg lost to Korda in the quarterfinals, 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. Stich finally dropped in the final, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 11-9.

Memorable? Maybe.

But fun? 169 games?

Korda made it look that way against Sampras. Leg cramps took their toll on the Czech player, but he tried to make light of them, playing to the crowd by hopping across the court.

Stomach cramps weren’t so easy for Sampras to downplay.

“In the end, we didn’t look so good on the court, but, for me, most important, I won the important last points,” Korda said.

The surface is important, too, and if the Indian Wells court does not have the speed of Munich, it is “quite fast,” according to Korda.

But the Czech player isn’t ignoring the contrast.

“Here it is a little different because the balls are very light. If he’s going to serve well, it’s going to be difficult,” Korda said. “But, at the moment I’m playing well, and, like I said, I’m going to really enjoy tennis tomorrow, and I have nothing to lose. He has to win.”

Added Korda: “I think I’m playing a little better tennis than I was two years ago because I’m serving much better than before and I’m getting more free points than I used to get. I’m trying to play more serve and volley.”

Tennis Notes

ATP Tour statistics do not recognize Petr Korda’s victory over Pete Sampras, because the Grand Slam Cup is not sanctioned by the tour. It is part of the political division in tennis. When the players put together their own tour, the International Tennis Federation decided to put on its own tournament and draws a field of 16 of the top players in the world for the event.