Petr Korda
Petr Korda 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 June 1998 at Wimbledon, was subsequently banned from September 1999 for 12 months, although he retired shortly before the ban.
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
- Wimbledon: QF
- US Open: QF
Professional career
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 1998 Wimbledon Championships, Korda tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. This was publicly revealed in December 1998. At the time, Korda was stripped of the ranking points and prize money that he had won at 1998 Wimbledon, but was not banned from the sport. The ITF soon announced that it felt that it had made a mistake in not banning Korda, and would be seeking to appeal against its own decision not to ban Korda from tennis competition. London's High Court ruled in late January 1999 that the ITF could not appeal against its own initial decision, but Korda was later banned from tennis for 12 months from September 1999 and stripped of the prize money and ranking points that he had won since July 1998. He did, however, compete in the Prague Challenger in December 2000 and the Prostějov Challenger in both 2001 and 2005.Personal life
Korda married Regina Rajchrtová, a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. They have three children, the oldest of whom, 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, he caddied for another of their daughters, Nelly, who was 14 years old at the time and the youngest player in the tournament. His 19 year old son, Sebastian, is also a tennis player and is the top-ranked junior in the world while representing the United States. Sebastian won the junior boys’ Australian Open title in 2018.Grand Slam finals
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
ATP career finals
Singles: 27 (10 titles, 17 runners-up)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 30 October 1989 | Frankfurt, Germany | Carpet |  Kevin Curren | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 6 May 1991 | Tampa, US | Clay | Richey Reneberg | 6–4, 4–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 22 July 1991 | Washington, D.C., US | Hard | Andre Agassi | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 29 July 1991 | Montreal, Canada | Hard |  Andrei Chesnokov | 6–3, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 19 August 1991 | New Haven, US | Hard |  Goran Ivanišević | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Winner | 2. | 14 October 1991 | Berlin, Germany | Carpet |  Arnaud Boetsch | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 4 May 1992 | Munich, Germany | Clay |  Magnus Larsson | 4–6, 6–4, 1–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 8 June 1992 | French Open, Paris, France | Clay | Jim Courier | 5–7, 2–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 3. | 20 July 1992 | Washington, D.C., US | Hard | Henrik Holm | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Winner | 4. | 31 August 1992 | Long Island, US | Hard |  Ivan Lendl | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 5 October 1992 | Basel, Switzerland | Hard |  Boris Becker | 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 12 October 1992 | Toulouse, France | Hard | Guy Forget | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 5. | 26 October 1992 | Vienna, Austria | Carpet |  Gianluca Pozzi | 6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 9. | 23 August 1993 | New Haven, US | Hard |  Andrei Medvedev | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 11 October 1993 | Sydney, Australia | Hard |  Jaime Yzaga | 4–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7 |
| Winner | 6. | 13 December 1993 | Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany | Carpet | Michael Stich | 2–6, 6–4, 7–6, 2–6, 11–9 |
| Runner-up | 11. | 14 February 1994 | Milan, Italy | Carpet | Boris Becker | 2–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 12. | 7 March 1994 | Indian Wells, US | Hard | Pete Sampras | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 13. | 2 May 1994 | Munich, Germany | Clay | Michael Stich | 2–6, 6–2, 3–6 |
| Winner | 7. | 8 January 1996 | Doha, Qatar | Hard |  Younes El Aynaoui | 7–6, 2–6, 7–6 |
| Runner-up | 14. | 22 July 1996 | Ostrava, Czech Republic | Carpet | David Prinosil | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 15. | 16 June 1997 | Halle, Germany | Grass |  Yevgeny Kafelnikov | 6–7, 7–6, 6–7 |
| Runner-up | 16. | 21 July 1997 | Washington, D.C., US | Hard | Michael Chang | 7–5, 2–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 8. | 27 October 1997 | Stuttgart, Germany | Carpet |  Richard Krajicek | 7–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 17. | 10 November 1997 | Moscow, Russia | Carpet | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | 6–7, 4–6 |
| Winner | 9. | 12 January 1998 | Doha, Qatar | Hard | Fabrice Santoro | 6–0, 6–3 |
| Winner | 10. | 2 February 1998 | Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia | Hard |  Marcelo Ríos | 6–2, 6–2, 6–2 |
Doubles: 24 (10 titles, 14 runners-up)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1987 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd |  Leonardo Lavalle Claudio Panatta | 6–3, 4–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 1988 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Milan Šrejber |  Andrés Gómez  Emilio Sánchez | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 1988 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | Clay | Jaroslav Navrátil |  Thomas Muster Horst Skoff | 7–5, 7–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1989 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Milan Šrejber |  Cássio Motta Todd Witsken | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 3. | 1989 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd |  Florin Segărceanu Cyril Suk | 6–7, 6–3, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1989 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd | Emilio Sánchez Javier Sánchez | 5–7, 6–7 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 1989 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | Clay | Gene Mayer | Jordi Arrese Horst Skoff | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 1990 | Monte-Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd | Andrés Gómez Javier Sánchez | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 1990 | Munich, Germany | Clay | Tomáš Šmíd |  Udo Riglewski Michael Stich | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 1990 | French Open, Paris, France | Clay | Goran Ivanišević | Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 1990 | New Haven, US | Hard | Goran Ivanišević | Jeff Brown Scott Melville | 6–2, 5–7, 0–6 |
| Winner | 5. | 1991 | New Haven, US | Hard |  Wally Masur | Jeff Brown Scott Melville | W/O |
| Winner | 6. | 1991 | Berlin, Germany | Carpet | Karel Nováček | Jan Siemerink Daniel Vacek | 3–6, 7–5, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 1991 | Basel, Switzerland | Hard | John McEnroe |  Jakob Hlasek Patrick McEnroe | 6–3, 6–7, 6–7 |
| Runner-up | 9. | 1992 | Monte-Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Karel Nováček | Boris Becker Michael Stich | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 1992 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Cyril Suk | Hendrik Jan Davids  Libor Pimek | W/O |
| Winner | 7. | 1993 | Monte-Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Stefan Edberg | Paul Haarhuis Mark Koevermans | 6–2, 2–6, 7–5 |
| Winner | 8. | 1993 | Halle, Germany | Grass |  Cyril Suk | Mike Bauer Marc-Kevin Goellner | 7–6, 5–7, 6–3 |
| Winner | 9. | 1993 | Cincinnati, US | Hard | Andre Agassi | Stefan Edberg Henrik Holm | 6–4, 7–6 |
| Runner-up | 11. | 1994 | Munich, Germany | Clay | Boris Becker | Yevgeny Kafelnikov David Rikl | 6–7, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 12. | 1995 | Milan, Italy | Carpet | Karel Nováček | Boris Becker Guy Forget | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 13. | 1995 | Washington, D.C., US | Hard | Cyril Suk | Olivier Delaître Jeff Tarango | 6–1, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 10. | 1996 | Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia | Hard | Stefan Edberg |  Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien | 7–5, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 14. | 1996 | Indianapolis, US | Hard | Cyril Suk | Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg | 6–7, 6–4, 4–6 |