Korda Wins Amid Controversy

Maybe it was coincidence that the defending Australian Open men’s champion did not play his first match here on Centre Court.

A snub, perhaps?

Certainly there was little doubt about Petr Korda’s newfound status as tour pariah after he defeated Galo Blanco of Spain, 6-3, 6-7 (7-1), 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, in a first-round match on Tuesday.

Blanco refused to shake hands with Korda after the 3-hour 45-minute match. He picked up his bag and departed Court One in speedy fashion, leaving the Czech player alone on the vacant court.

“I have no idea. I was waiting [for him]. It never happened to me before,” said Korda. “I don’t know if my opponent was disappointed because I twisted my ankle, but I didn’t do anything that would affect him on the court. I was purely fighting the best I could to stay alive in the match.”

Blanco said he was felt Korda was stalling when he called for a trainer to examine his ankle, saying through an interpreter: “It wasn’t true he was injured. It was very hard for me to do it [not shake hands]. But I felt it was the right thing to do at that moment.”

The sudden solitude was an apt metaphor for Korda on a controversial second day. Korda, who tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at Wimbledon, is able to play because the International Tennis Federation’s independent appeals committee in December opted not to impose an automatic one-year ban. Korda said Tuesday he could not discuss his case because it remains in litigation.

Officials contended that Korda was not on Centre Court because he is not a seeded player. “As my father told me, it doesn’t matter, you can play on the potato field, on the boat,” Korda said. “You have to play tennis.”

Korda felt the crowd was behind both players. But support has been lacking from his peers once the ITF committee ruling put tennis under scrutiny. In the last two days, Korda came under fire from two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter and Jim Courier. Courier, in particular, has been the most outspoken player on the tour, saying Korda should not be playing.

Courier did not hold back after he defeated Peter Wessels of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0), voicing his unsubstantiated suspicion that some tour players were blood doping, which is undetectable by current testing on the circuit.

“That’s the primary one,” Courier said of EPO. “It’s clearly prevalent in Europe and most of our tour is in Europe, so you know, by deduction--and I’m throwing darts. I have no proof. I can’t name names. I wouldn’t bother naming names, but it just seems like a logical way for a player to improve himself.”

Courier said he was disappointed Korda did not defend himself at the players’ meeting before the tournament.

“If I was innocent, you couldn’t prevent me from getting up and speaking,” Courier said. “Everyone has to walk their own walk. I have known him forever. I would consider him a friend. I want to be very clear this shouldn’t be considered a witch hunt against Petr. This is a witch hunt against the rules and their enforcement.”

Said Rafter: “My opinion is that is probably killing the sport. “If someone gets tested in athletics [track and field] or something and they get found positive, they are out straight away. That’s not the case in tennis and I think that should be the case, unless Petr has got a bloody good explanation and we didn’t hear it.”

Jeff Tarango is concerned about the precedent being set, that a loophole is being created with the Korda case.

“No matter what everyone is going to look bad,” he said. “That’s what Pete [Sampras] and I were talking about: ‘What kind of precedent does it set?’ They’re showing us every step of the way right now, the precedent that it sets, and it’s not looking too good.”

Korda said he did not know how the steroid got into his system. After the run of criticism, the ITF has decided to appeal the decision of its committee to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Korda has filed legal action in London to block that move.

“If you don’t know how it got into your system and you can’t backtrack and figure it out, then you are incredibly naive, stupid or you are hiding something,” Courier said.

*

Andre Agassi and Michael Chang joined Pete Sampras in making themselves unavailable for the upcoming U.S. Davis Cup match against Britain in April at Birmingham, England.

The fifth-seeded Agassi, who defeated Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0, said the tie did not work with his schedule.

“I’m not going to play,” he said. “It doesn’t really fit into my plans with reference to my goals this year. And it takes a lot out of you. I just don’t believe I have that to give right now.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

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