TENNIS ROUNDUP : Korda Gets Day to Enjoy Beating Idol

Petr Korda is playing well, but he didn’t want to look ahead to the U.S. Open just yet.

Korda, seeded fourth, defeated defending champion Ivan Lendl, 6-2, 6-2, in the final of the Hamlet Cup Sunday at Commack, N.Y.

“I want to relax for a day,” said Korda, who plays Emilio Sanchez of Spain in the opening round of the Open. “It’s tough to beat two top players like Edberg and Lendl in two days.

“I’ve played good all week, the best tennis I played all summer.”

Korda, 24, needed only 68 minutes to beat Lendl, who has won this event five times but is still seeking his first tournament victory of 1992.

Lendl, seeded third and ranked seventh, came into this season with at least three tournament wins in each of the last 11 seasons. Since his Hamlet victory last year, the 32-year-old has had the longest drought of his career.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I was last year when I beat (Lendl) in Stockholm,” Korda said. “He had been my tennis idol while I was growing up (in Czechoslovakia).”

Korda broke Lendl’s service in the third game with three forehand cross court placements from the baseline and then broke again in the seventh game.

Lendl held serve in the first game of the second set but Korda took control by winning the next five games.

“He played too good,” Lendl said. “I wasn’t reading his shots. I wasn’t timing them right. He’s a flashy player and today he handled the wind very well.”

Wayne Ferreira of South Africa won his second pro title with a 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2 victory over Jamie Morgan of Australia in the OTB International at Schenectady, N.Y.

Barbara Rittner, 19, of Germany won her first pro title, defeating Brenda Schultz of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, for the women’s title. Morgan, playing his eighth match in nine days, reached the main draw when Andres Gomez pulled out with a wrist injury.

Thomas Muster of Austria beat Franco Davin of Argentina, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, in the rain-delayed championship of the $260,000 Croatian Open at Umag, Croatia.

Muster donated his winnings of nearly $34,000 to Croatia’s refugee relief effort.