1992: Korda Handles Holm With Little Trouble
By Alison Muscatine
Washington Post Staff Writer
July 20, 1992
Petr Korda, a 24-year Czechoslovak who handles a tennis racket like a scalpel, won the NationsBank Classic yesterday in a final that amounted to a big tease.
Korda toyed mercilessly with unseeded Henrik Holm for 77 minutes before defeating the young Swede, 6-4, 6-4, under broiling sunshine at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.
"I hope I can enjoy tennis and play like this all summer,"said the top-seeded Korda after collecting the winner's check of $81,600.
The victory provided Korda with his third title and bolstered his claim to the No. 5 ranking. While a host of other top players -- including Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, and Ivan Lendl -- bowed out early, Korda showed fortitude and surgical play from the baseline -- losing only one set during the week.
"I am very happy and very proud of the way I played,"said Korda, who lost in the final last year to Agassi."This was the first time I was a first seed and I'm happy I won. This tournament means a lot to me."
Despite the 98-degree heat, it was a somewhat tepid final, spiced only slightly by international politics. Earlier in the week, Korda noticed that, for the second consecutive year, the flag of Czechoslovakia was not among the international banners flying at the top of Stadium Court.
"It's nice to have something from home and I asked {tournament director Josh Ripple} why there was no Czech flag,"Korda explained."I don't want to say I'm too nationalistic, but it's nice to have a flag."
By yesterday afternoon, when the top seed arrived for the final, the Czech colors were flying.
For No. 114-ranked Holm, the second unseeded player to advance to the final here, the loss provided at least a bit of short-lived fame. Holm had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of a tournament. His ranking will jump 44 notches, to No. 70 after his runner-up finish.
"Now the guys know who I am,"he said.
But he still has a way to go. Unnerved by Korda's precision and bothered by the bright sun, the normally affable 23-year-old screamed at himself several times in Swedish and once clubbed a ball angrily into the net when he lost a break point.
"Perhaps I'm not a typical Swede,"he said."I get frustrated."
Playing Korda was enough to induce hysteria in even the calmest competitor. After bombarding Lendl in the quarterfinals and upsetting seventh-seeded Derrick Rostagno in the semifinals, Holm hoped to replicate his serve-and-volley performances against the angular left-hander from Prague. But what he had not anticipated was the depth and accuracy of Korda's ground strokes -- he routinely blistered the lines and corners -- which forced Holm to compete awkwardly from the backcourt for much of the match.
"I couldn't come in because he put the ball so near the baseline,"Holm said."He is one of the cleanest {hitting} players on the tour."
They had played once before -- in 1989 -- and Holm won in straight sets. But Korda burst through the rankings this past year and hurdled from No. 69 into the top 10. Armed with new conviction and the experience of his first Grand Slam final -- he lost in the French Open to Jim Courier in straight sets last month -- Korda has become a force to be reckoned with.
"He's more confident,"Holm said."That's why he is No. 5."
Focused and calculating, the wispy Korda inflicted the first humiliation early. He fired a forehand passing shot down the line to set up a break point in the first game, and broke Holm on the next serve with a forehand return that greased the corner.
As Holm experimented with sunglasses on the sunny side of the court, Korda stuck to a headband around his spiky blond hair and jumped ahead, 4-0.
"I didn't feel too bad when I went on the court,"Holm said."But it was tough in the sun to see the ball on the first volley. The eyes get a little confused."
Holm's huge serve, which had tormented opponents all week, misfired from the start. He double-faulted three times in the first three games, all at inopportune times. The result was that Korda batted Holm around like a cat would a mouse.
"He was nervous,"Korda said."He played like I played in the French Open final. It was his first final."
Angry at himself, Holm relaxed and fought off three break points to hold serve for 1-4. Then, just to make things interesting, he broke Korda in the next game and held to bring the score to 3-4.
Although he lost the first set three games later, he was reinvigorated. But in the first game of the second set he was quickly reminded of the frustrations of playing someone with Korda's talent.
Serving at 30-40, Holm hit two neat volleys to the corners, both of which Korda ran down. When Holm hit a third volley deep to the forehand, it appeared to be a winner. But Korda reversed his step to the wrong side and lunged for the ball, hitting a clean forehand winner down the line that whizzed by Holm's ear and landed inches from the baseline.
"You need a little bit of luck,"Holm said.
The rest of the set was virtually a carbon copy of the first. Korda moved ahead 4-0, only to lose the next four games. But his power and speed soon crushed whatever optimism remained for Holm. Korda broke back in the ninth game and, after hitting another signature forehand cross-court that Holm heaved wide, he claimed the crystal trophy.
Afterward, Korda explained why his career has taken off in the last year.
"I am from a country where players grow later, and a little bit slower,"said Korda, who was in school until he was 18 and entered his first satellite tournament at 19."Other guys start at 14 but they might not be able to play until they're 30 because they're going to be tired of the circuit.
"It's better to have a slower start,"he said."Maybe I'll make it to 30."
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