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Thursday, Jan. 21, 1999

Defending champ Korda thrashes Spain's Alonso

Winner shrugs off remarks about steroid test; Martin, Seles also prevail at Australian Open

Associated Press

   MELBOURNE, Australia - Only a few snide remarks from fans pierced the atmosphere of decorum on court, the players shook hands like gentlemen and, for one day, at least, defending champion Petr Korda escaped a pummeling by his peers.
   He even brought back his scissors kick to celebrate a victory.
   Korda, the center of a burgeoning drug controversy stemming from his positive steroid test, shrugged off the "improper and insulting" cracks from several spectators and advanced to the third round of the Australian Open early today with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of Spain's Julian Alonso.
   "I have a high spirit. I have my head up. I am trying to play tennis only," Korda said.
   It was fast - only 78 minutes - and uneventful, and Korda played without a hint of the ankle soreness he suffered when he sprawled to the court in his opening-round match. Spain's Galo Blanco claimed Korda faked that injury to gain an injury timeout, but the Czech insists it was real and he simply healed quickly.
   "It was black yesterday, and it's yellow today," Korda said of his left ankle. "I always take the small steps. If you fall on the small steps your butt is not going to hurt as much."
   Everything looked brighter for Korda this time. As he lined up for his first serve, the sun broke through gray clouds hanging over Melbourne Park. It turned out to be a good omen for him.
   Serving for the first set, Korda questioned fault calls against two of his first serves, then went back and finished the game with two aces. He also set up match point with the last of his 11 aces. When Alonso hit the final return into the net, Korda clenched his fists, then walloped a ball high into the air to the cheers of the crowd. Unlike Blanco, Alonso came straight to the net to shake Korda's hand.
   When Korda reached the center of the court as he was walking off, he dropped his bag and made one of his trademark scissors kicks, prompting another cheer from the crowd.
   The unseeded Korda next meets American Todd Martin, the president of the ATP Tour players council, which voted this week to impose stiffer drug penalties. Martin is among many players who said he wants to know exactly what the "exceptional circumstances" were that led to Korda's reduced penalty when he appealed his positive steroid test at Wimbledon last year.
   Martin, the No. 15 seed who is coming off a tuneup triumph in Sydney, beat Germany's Hendrik Dreekmann, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
   Four-time women's champion Monica Seles kept her career record in Australia unblemished - she's 30-0 at this tournament, and perfect at two other events Down Under - as she romped over France's Alexia Dechaume-Balleret, 6-1, 6-4.
   Unseeded Serena Williams advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Spain's Magui Serna, and No. 16 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Julie Halard-Decugis, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
   

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  © 1999 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.