Go to Tennis Section

Go to Sports Section

Sickened Korda Overcomes Heat, Haas

Petr Korda grunted, groaned and grimaced with his head between his knees and his hands on his hips, vomiting into the flower pots beside the court. Disoriented and sick from 110-degree on-court temperatures at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic yesterday, Korda wobbled but did not fall in the quarterfinals and defeated No. 8 seed Tommy Haas, 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4, before 5,102 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.

As the No. 2 seed, Korda had a first-round bye and his next two matches were easy, two-set affairs. He hadn’t spent more than 1½ hours at a time in the thick heat, which soared well above 100 degrees for the fifth day in a row, and it showed. Even standing was a struggle yesterday in the 2-hour 9-minute match against Haas, the young German star Korda has known for years and with whom he partnered in doubles this week.

Korda had to be treated by trainer Bill Norris after Haas broke him to tie the third set, 3-3. Only one player — Oren Motevassel of Israel on Monday — has retired because of heat illness, but Korda nearly became the second.

"I was close to giving up," said Korda, who improved to 30-14 and reached his third semifinal of the year. He won this tournament in 1992 and was a finalist in 1991. "I don’t know if I was dizzy, but I almost couldn’t follow the ball. I couldn’t tell if it was left or right, wide or in, or where it was. If I’m feeling [in the semifinals] the way I’m feeling right now, there’s no chance."

In today’s semifinal, Korda will face qualifier David Wheaton, ranked 232nd in the world. Wheaton defeated his third seeded opponent in three days. This time it was No. 14 Vince Spadea, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Top-seeded Michael Chang defeated No. 7 Scott Draper of Australia, 6-2, 6-3, before 6,259 in the evening session and will play No. 11 Brett Steven of New Zealand at 7 tonight. Steven defeated unseeded German Rainer Schuttler in the afternoon, 6-3, 6-3.

Haas, the 19-year-old whom Boris Becker has called the future of German tennis, had ample opportunity to advance. He trains with Korda in Bradenton, Fla., and knows the Czech’s game well. They played doubles for the first time together this week, reaching the second round. And while Korda had his head buried in an iced towel and had a mouth full of electrolyte tablets in the third set, Haas leaned back with an ice water, his legs crossed.

Korda "had some nervous shakes and was a bit panicky," Norris said. "He drank lots of fluids but was soaking everything right up and had a dry mouth, so we had to calm him down and cool him off. I’ve seen him do this before, and I knew if we’d do that, he’d pull out of it."

Desperate, Korda drank sugary soda for energy. "I needed something in my body," said Korda, who didn’t each lunch before any of his matches this week because he doesn’t like the food the tournament provides. "My body was tired, because I didn’t put any food inside."

But Korda’s physical problems weren’t enough to cancel out Haas’s errors. Trying to hold serve in the seventh game of the final set, Haas hit several volleys long and into the net. Korda held break point twice and broke Haas when he sent a lazy volley long to fall behind, 4-3.

That break "was like someone put a life-injection into my body," Korda said. "I had life again after that."

Korda leaned against a wall to rest before the eighth game but held serve anyway to go up 5-3. Hass held to make it 5-4 and then Korda served out the match — and he did it with an ace, no less, which he hit with a pronounced grunt. His energy depleted, Korda raised his arms in triumph briefly and walked straight to the locker room, leaving Norris to carry his bags.

"If I had jumped around, I probably would have landed on the ground I was so exhausted," said Korda, displeased with scheduling that has forced him to play all of his matches in the afternoon. Chang has only played at night, and Agassi, seeded third, played at night Wednesday. "In that sun, probably I have to work on my skin to be darker. It seems every time I come to Washington, I’m playing at lunch time. I don’t understand it."

Chang, whose match was delayed more than two hours by rain, took just 1 hour 10 minutes to defeat Draper. The quick match was a relief for Chang, who received a first-round bye. It followed two sub-par performances — each of which went three sets — in the second and third rounds.

"I definitely felt a lot better," said Chang, who advanced to his seventh semifinal of the season. "I moved better, hit the ball cleaner. It was a much better match for me, and it’s always great to be able to play better tennis as the week goes on."