Embattled Korda plunges in rankings
Sampras remains No. 1 despite missing Australian Open
Posted: Tuesday January 26, 1999 10:30 AM
| |
Korda has been one of the most consistent players on the ATP tour AP |
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Defeated Australian Open champion Petr Korda will plummet from No. 20 to around 75 in the world rankings -- his lowest position for 10 years -- after losing in the third round.
A year after his first grand slam title, the Czech has dropped into the pack as lawyers fight an appeal over his positive drug test at Wimbledon.
The ATP Tour said Alex Corretja would climb one spot to a career-high No. 2 despite losing in the second round.
Corretja will take over from Marcelo Rios of Chile, who pulled out of the Open with a back injury without hitting a ball.
French Open runnerup Corretja will become the highest-ranked Spaniard since Manuel Orantes reached No. 2 in August 1973.
Pete Sampras, who decided to miss the Open because of fatigue, will remain No. 1 when the new rankings are released on February 1.
Five men had the chance to topple the American in Melbourne -- Rios, Corretja, No. 4 Pat Rafter, Spain's Carlos Moya and American Andre Agassi. All have now been beaten.
Rios, a finalist in Melbourne last year, is expected to slip to seventh.
Korda has been one of the most consistent players on the tour, finishing in the top 20 in 1998 for the sixth time in eight years.
An unhappy Korda came to defend his title with his world crashing around his ears after a positive test at last year's Wimbledon.
Fellow players complained bitterly that he had escaped with a fine instead of the one-year ban that is usually handed out for steroid use and the International Tennis Federation is appealing against the decision of its own panel.
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov -- one of only three seeds to reach the men's quarterfinals -- can return to a career-high No. 3 if he wins in Melbourne, or will be four or five if he makes the final for the first time.
Seventh seed Karol Kucera of Slovakia can also squeeze back into the top 10 from No. 11 if he reaches the final.
Favourite Thomas Enqvist stands to return to the top 10 for the first time in three years if he takes his first grand slam title.
The Swede is at least guaranteed of a top 15 placing after he demolished Switzerland's Marc Rosset in the quarterfinals.
Top seed Lindsay Davenport will hang on to the No. 1 women's spot she took from Swiss teenager Martina Hingis last year regardless of the outcome in Melbourne.
The WTA said Davenport had secured her leading placing for at least another two weeks.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| 
