Tennis Prose




Mar/15

6

Rios Seeks Korda’s ’98 Australian Open Title, Asks For Doping Check

mrios

Marcelo Rios, who lost the ’98 Australian Open final to Petr Korda 26 26 26, is requesting an investigation into whether Korda committed a doping violation which possibly influenced the outcome of their match.

Chilean tennis officials are backing the request by Rios, who would like the ITF (International Tennis Federation) to investigate Korda, who tested positive for a banned steroid later in ’98 at Wimbledon. Korda was not penalized for the positive doping test until after he retired from pro tennis in mid ’99.

“Chile Tennis Federation will support Marcelo because he’s the best player in Chile’s history,” stated Chile Tennis Federation spokesman Rodrigo Valdebenito to The Associated Press on Thursday. The Federation will request a probe in the coming months.

Rios said he would like to accept the ’98 Australian Open title if it can be proven that Korda violated doping rules.

Marion Jones, the infamous American sprinter who won track and field gold medals in the 2000 Olympic Games, was later stripped of her medals because of doping violations.

If the ITF finds doping violations by Korda and is willing to overturn the ’98 Australian Open final and name Rios as champion, it would be a highly controversial action, sure to be contested mightily by Korda.

Rios, who held the ATP Number One Ranking for six weeks in ’98, retired from pro tennis in 2004. The ’98 Australian Open final was his only major final appearance.

Scoop Malinowski is the author of “Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew” available at Amazon.com

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5 comments

  • Andrew Miller · March 7, 2015 at 12:48 am

    If Rios made an effort in that match, sure. Unfortunately Rios gave up – Korda came out on fire and Rios lowered his own. There was never a switch in momentum – Rios didn’t really make one, didn’t involve the crowd, never a fist pump or anything. If he had tried his darnest and came up blanks…then found out Korda was juicing – by all means, get the ITF/ATP to revoke Korda’s slam. But look at the match itself – no, it was as if Rios wasn’t there.

  • Andrew Miller · March 7, 2015 at 12:53 am

    aka just because you want the slam to be yours doesn’t mean it is. Life can be very unfair. I like what Agassi said about Murray – and how helpful it would have been for Rios (and was…Rios’ best year was the period AFTER the Australian Open! If he hadn’t lost to Korda, I don’t think he would have put together the rest of the year).

    ““It appears to me that what he’s gone through is not much different from what I went through,” Agassi said. “Which is: he was let on to this dirty little secret; that winning a slam doesn’t change anything. If anything, it makes you realise that this better be about something else. You have to figure out a way to engage with the game differently. You have to figure out a way to make yourself better, despite being the best. There are a lot of working components. And it doesn’t help to have Djokovic on the other side of the net.”

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2015 at 7:57 am

    Andrew, Rios won Auckland in 98 before Melbourne (def. Fromberg 76 in the third), so he was consistently strong for the whole year. I was told Rios trained like a beast that off season after 97 and pre 98. Nice quotes by Agassi. He could make Harrison top ten for sure. Heck, I think he could even make me top 50 🙂

  • Andrew Miller · March 7, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    Just don’t get why Rios is doing this. Sore for not winning the Australian or having a slam in his pocket? He really needed to win one to have one – if he had won a set on Korda during that match or made it worth remembering then he’d have more of a case.

    I’m all for laying into Korda for doping but why is Rios doing this 17 years later? Korda played well – brilliantly even – but Rios wasn’t playing a Rios-like match and didn’t make a match of it. He went in nervous – and McEnroe, who was calling the match (whole thing is up on youtube) was just waiting for Rios to do something.

    Never happened. If Rios had woken up during the match I think he could have bent Korda like a twig. Korda wasn’t being challenged. He really needed to try – and then take it. And if he thought it was unfair, sadly he would have had to challenge it at that point, then make a match statement by winning a different slam.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Maybe Rios obtained inside info that Korda was indeed using PEDs during his Aussie win. I doubt he would do this out of the blue with no evidence. But who knows, Rios always was unpredictable.

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