Tennis: Korda cruises past Bjorkman in round-robin

PETR KORDA swept aside Jonas Bjorkman in straight sets yesterday as the Czech Republic took an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Sweden on the opening day of the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf.

Korda, the world No 2, beat Bjorkman 6-3, 6-1 in the event which pits eight of the world's top nations against each other in a round-robin format.

The clay event also serves as a warm-up for the French Open, which begins on 25 May. Three former champions at Roland Garros are taking part - Americans Jim Courier and Michael Chang and Spain's Sergi Bruguera. Boris Becker, the former Wimbledon champion, is also competing.

Slava Dosedel followed Korda's triumph with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Magnus Norman, clinching the match and rendering the following doubles meaningless.

In a second Red Group match, the United States were beaten 2-1 by Australia. Richey Reneberg, replacing the injured Chang, beat Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 7-6, while Australia's Mark Philippoussis levelled the match by defeating Courier 6-3, 6-4.

Philippoussis needed just a single break in both sets to overpower Courier, who won the French Open in 1991 and 1992 while he was the world No 1.

In the deciding doubles, the world's top-ranked pair. Mark Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, overcame Todd Martin and Richey Reneberg 6-2, 6-2.

Tim Henman has dropped one place to 18 in the latest ATP Tour rankings announced yesterday but Britain's top player, Greg Rusedski, remains at No 5. Henman's demotion was due to the outstanding clay-court form of Spaniard Albert Costa, who has jumped from 20 to 13 after reaching the final of the Italian Open yesterday.

Because of his high ranking, Rusedski will be seeded five in Paris, but Henman will not be among the 16 seeds unless two higher-ranked players withdraw.