Tennis: Humiliating end for Korda
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Your support makes all the difference.PETR KORDA, of the Czech Republic, ranked second in the world 16 months ago after winning the Australian Open, slipped quietly away from the Bank of England sports ground into retirement yesterday after going out of the Wimbledon qualifying competition to Danny Sapsford of Surrey.
Even allowing for Korda's fall from grace since a positive drugs test at Wimbledon last year, the tale of the tape had appeared to be heavily against 30-year-old Sapsford, conceding eight inches in height, countless Grand Slam appearances and 474 places even in the current rankings. The tale of the match, however, was that after conceding the first set 6-3, the Briton found sufficient rhythm on his serve to take the second to a tie-break and hung in grittily to win it from 4-1 down.
Claiming the third set 6-4, Sapsford then announced that he too would have retired had he lost and that he will do so after Wimbledon, to take up a coaching job with the Lawn Tennis Association.
"One of us was going to hang up our rackets after today," he said. "I've been playing pretty bad, so I came into this with no expectations. I've been fortunate to catch him on the way down and on a bad day. But I guess I'm on the way down too."
Korda later confirmed his immediate retirement in dignified fashion, though he was clearly annoyed at being refused a wild card for Wimbledon after reaching the quarter-finals last year. "Right now I am relieved it is all over," he said. "I feel I don't have that mental edge I used to have and if you don't have that it is better to leave. I can be a normal person now and have a normal life.
"I learned on last Tuesday night that I wasn't going to get a wild card for Wimbledon and it is bad that they don't recognise who you are. I would say the Wimbledon committee would have given me one, but not the LTA. It has been a difficult year in which they took something away from me that I loved the most, my passion for playing tennis."
Korda had briefly roused himself at 5-3 down in the final set before Sapsford served out for a victory he described as less notable than successes in the past over Brad Gilbert and Wally Masur.
Wilkinson's woe,
Sorry Smith, page 27
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