Rios and Korda Trying to Redeem Their Reputation

Today’s men’s Australian Open final offers up one former tanker and one well-known quitter. Only their rehabilitation--as underscored by their presence in a Grand Slam tournament final--saves the tournament’s big day from also-ran ignominy.

Ninth-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile and sixth-seeded Petr Korda of the Czech Republic are the players of formerly questionable heart. But both have proved here and elsewhere that they have put their less-professional ways behind them.

Rios spoke candidly about his youthful battle against complacency. His reputation has evolved from talented underachiever to tenacious competitor.

“I’m not being like that,” Rios said of his former lackadaisical approach to winning. “Even if I’m losing badly, I try to fight to win a match.

“Before, I was like, a little bit lazy. If I’m losing, I say, OK, concede. I didn’t fight and I lose matches really easy. It looks like I didn’t care. I didn’t care if I lost the match.

“A lot of guys told me, ‘Why are you tanking?’ or ‘Why don’t you fight?’ I say I’m not tanking. But it was part of my game. I didn’t know why I didn’t want to fight. But I think I am different now. Like I realize I can do it.”

Korda’s reputation came from his physical fragility and his unwillingness to suffer pain during matches. He has undergone surgery and frequent hospitalizations and got to a point in his tennis career where he would rather quit during a match then go through any more pain.

Korda, 30, announced his return to form by defeating Pete Sampras at the U.S. Open last year. He announced something different when, in the next round, he quit during a quarterfinal match because of a head cold. Korda complained that moments after his victory over Sampras he had been ushered into an icy, air-conditioned television studio and caught a chill.

That explanation was not enough to earn him a savaging from the players and media, which Korda took hard. He won the title at Stuttgart the next month and regained the Top 10 for the first time since 1992, but was still smarting from the criticism.

“People said many, many bad things about me,” he said. “I don’t know why. I was sick, even if no one thinks so. I have to show I don’t quit.”

Korda has displayed a powerful all-court game here and a willingness to fight.

Rios is an attacking baseliner with the classic South American stylish groundstrokes.

Rios knocked Korda out in the first round here last year, but the players have a 3-3 head-to-head record.

“His game is really fast,” Rios said of Korda. “I think he really good indoors. Outdoors, a little windy, he doesn’t play good. He’s a tough player. He’s playing really good, a lot of confidence. It think it is going to be a good match.”

No Chilean player has ever won a Grand Slam tournament title.

“I’ve been taking each match at a time,” Rios said. “I am really, really happy to be in the finals. I think the most important thing is to win a Slam. That’s the best thing you can do.”