2 Responses to ao98korda_rios

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 20, 2020 at 5:13 pm

   Points won by each set: | 31-20, 28-15, 31-23 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   29 % Korda – 23 of 77
   26 % Rios – 19 of 71

   Unprecedented situation that two players who had faced each other in the first round of a major (Rios won 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 1997), the following year they play in the final at the same venue! The 30-year-old Czech [7] was presumably under the influence of anabolic steroid nandrolone, really strange that he had the easiest match against the most demanding opponent… # His twelfth win in a row after one of the shortest major finals. The mid-set was the only in which Korda didn’t build an early advantage (there was 2-all, 30-all). One-and-half years later he retires being accused of a doping violation and losing matches more often than winning them for several months… March 2015: Rios [8] demanded (in vain) to receive the title due to the suspicion of Korda taking illegal substances before their final. Rios remains the only former no. 1 who hasn’t won a major title.

   Korda’s route to his 10th & last title:
   1 Albert Portas 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
   2 Scott Draper 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-3
   3 Vincent Spadea 6-2, 7-6(8), 6-2
   4 Cedric Pioline 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
   Q Jonas Bjorkman 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
   S Karol Kucera 6-1, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
   W Marcelo Rios 6-2, 6-2, 6-2

   # Comparison of two Aus Open finals with the same scoreline:
   1989: Lendl d. Mecir 6-2, 6-2, 6-2… 2 hours 1 minute… Total points: 88-63… Breaks: 9-3
   1998: Korda d. Rios 6-2, 6-2, 6-2… 1 hour 24 minutes… Total points: 90-58… Breaks: 7-1

   Korda vs Rios it was the second all-left-handed Aussie Open final in the Open Era (previous in 1977)

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   March 6, 2025 at 1:56 am

   [2] Korda, enjoying a 22-2 record (counting from Autumn ’97), had his reasonable chances in four successive events to become the best in the world:
   – Antwerp (Korda had to win the title not worrying about Sampras who didn’t play that week – lost in the quarterfinal)
   – London (Korda needed only the semifinal – lost 2R, on the assumption Sampras loses in the quarterfinal in Philadelphia max)
   – Indian Wells (when Sampras was ousted in 3R, Korda had to win the title – lost in the quarterfinal)
   – Key Biscayne (Korda needed the final advancement – lost in the fourth round; on the assumption Sampras loses before the semifinal)

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