'Little Wimbledon' rekindles Korda's fire

Czech whose love of the game was extinguished by court battles feels justice has been done with triumph in veterans' tournament

The Honda Challenge is nothing more than a pleasant indulgence in tennis nostalgia in one of the finest settings imaginable. But yesterday the event had a deeper meaning for Petr Korda. "I'm leaving London a winner," the 34-year-old Czech said, after his mind had been jolted back to an unsuccessful outcome, from his point of view, in the High Court in 1999.

On that occasion, Korda failed to overturn a year's ban for drug abuse imposed by the International Tennis Federation and retired from the main tour. The former Australian Open champion was eventually persuaded to take up his racket in the senior tour, and yesterday Korda defeated Michael Stich, of Germany, the 1991 Wimbledon champion, 6-1, 6-4, to win the veterans' showpiece tournament.

Korda treated spectators to his trademark scissor kick in the eighth game of the second set and performed a cartwheel after the concluding point to emphasise how important it was for him to win an event in this country for the first time.

"It's something special," he said. "What happened to me in 1999 is sad. I lost the case. I had to live with it. It was quite expensive. But I lost something more than money: I lost the fire for the game, the love of the game. My father taught me how to love the game. I would give my blood for tennis. I wish I had the fire I used to have. Otherwise, my life goes on."

The tall, skinny left-hander from Prague was the runner-up to Guy Forget, France's Davis Cup captain, in last year's Honda Challenge. He was the only player to win his three round robin matches this time, and went on to defeat the Frenchman Henri Leconte in Saturday's semi-finals.

Korda may have lost some of his "fire", but, as he had stressed every day since arriving in London last week, his tennis "comes from the heart" and he needs to be aware that the crowd enjoys his skills. "For me, it is most important to create some shots and open the court." His play at the Royal Albert Hall, or "Little Wimbledon," as he calls it, was applauded by spectators and opponents alike.

Stich, 34, who on Friday had eliminated John McEnroe, the 43-year-old ringmaster of the Delta Tour of Champions, was unable to keep pace with Korda in yesterday's duel between comparative youngsters.

"If you are a tenth of a second late on every strike, Petr gets the point," said Stich, who was making his first visit to the event, after resigning recently as Germany's Davis Cup captain.

Korda intends to send the trophy to one of his golfing friends, Jonathan Yarwood, an Englishman based at David Leadbetter's Academy in America. "I know Jonathan will be very happy to put this trophy with his collection of memorabilia," said Korda. "He is a very good friend. He is a golf teacher, and he explains a lot of things about golf to me, and I try and explain things about tennis to him. He is a big supporter of Tim Henman. Jonathan would have come to the tournament here, but his wife is expecting a baby."

Once a ball boy for his compatriot Ivan Lendl, Korda is delighted to be able to mix it with past masters of the sport.

"It's great to be in a group of champions like these guys," he said. "I was watching them when I was young, learning from them."

Nowadays, Korda is the one giving lessons, his younger legs overtaking the men he admires: the results here enabled him to supplant McEnroe as the tour points leader.

* Jennifer Capriati eased to a three-set victory over Daniela Hantuchova at the inaugural Collins Cup in Dublin on Saturday, completing a 6-1 overall victory for the United States team over their European counterparts. A highlight of the ambitious three-day event, which showcased fashion alongside the best of the women's game, was the 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of World No 2 Venus Williams by the 19-year-old Russian Elena Bovina, who looks set to make a major impact at next month's Australian Open.