First came the scissor kick, for which the Australians christened him "kanga Korda". Then, after the semifinal, there were cartwheels. And tomorrow, if Petr Korda beats Marcelo Rios, the thin man from the Czech Republic may well perform a double pike somersault from the umpire's chair.
Save for a small handful of flagwaiving Chileans, there is no doubt that the great force of public support will be solidly behind Korda when he steps on to centre court for the final.
From afar he is not a strikingly athletic man; a Melbourne newspaper rather cruelly suggested at the end of the first week that his spaceship might call him back at any minute.
But Korda's tale is one of endurance in the face of adversity, of talent thwarted by injury, and of a mind that has frequently balked at making sensible decisions.
Three years ago he all but gave up the game for which he has a supreme talent. A serious groin injury put him in permanent pain, but he steadfastly refused to consider surgery. Until, that is, the combined advice of his wife, Regina, and Tony Pickard, now Greg Rusedski's coach, finally persuaded him there was more to life than the fear of a knife.
His rehabilitation was neither quick nor trouble free. After beating Pete Sampras in the fourth round of last year's US Open, he walked out, two sets and 0-1 down, of his quarter-final against Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman suffering from a cold.
Korda has since claimed he should never have started that match, but those that saw it merely shook their heads sadly and put it down to another loss of nerve. The joke is that he comes from the Choke Republic. There will be those tomorrow morning who will wake up suspecting that some other unforeseen problem will have surfaced in Korda's life to prevent him from taking this title, but at last he seems only too aware that, at the age of 30, this may be his last chance.
"Right now it is five to midnight in my tennis life, but those five minutes can, I hope, be very long."
This is his 10th year on the Grand Slam circuit. In 1992, when he reached number five in the world, he was beaten by Jim Courier in the French Open final. But since then, three quarterfinals, one in Australia and two at Flushing Meadows, have been the height of his Grand Slam success, until his four-set semi-final win over Slovakia's Karol Kucera on Thursday. Kucera, who beat Sampras in the quarter-finals, believes Korda will win: "When Petr is playing at the top of his form nobody stands much of a chance."
Rios had never been beyond the quarter-final stage of the world's four major championships prior to this week. The 22-year-old Chilean, from a wealthy background, is hardly the most loved figure on the professional circuit. At the last two French Opens he has been awarded the prix citron for his less than enthusiastic attitude towards the press and the photographers, although a huge contract with Nike last year has slightly ameliorated his public persona. Only slightly, mind you. While Korda, seeded six, is essentially an attacking player, ever eager to take the initiative, Rios, the ninth seed, works patiently to outmanoeuvre his opponent during the course of a long rally. Both are left-handers, but whereas Korda's most potent shot is his backhand, Rios has a forehand of withering power. They have met six times previously and are tied, although on hard courts Rios has a 2-1 edge. The main problem for Korda will be the usually immaculate length of Rios' ground strokes, which regularly dip in just inside the base line. This will make it extremely hard for the Czech player to attack. Rios has had the easier passage to the final, although Korda was able to rest yesterday while Rios was defeating the Frenchman Nicholas Escude in straight sets. Poor Escude, who has had the most marvellous tournament, three times coming back from two sets down, was virtually bereft of energy for the semi-final. He had climbed the high peaks, but this was a mountain too far. Tomorrow the Australian Open will have a new champion. Of the popular choice there is no doubt, but it is highly probable that tennis' problem child will win. Tim Henman, knocked out in the first round here, has announced he will be unavailable to compete in the ATP world team cup championships in Dusseldorf from May 18th-24th, immediately before the French Open. He was to have teamed up with Greg Rusedski, but his decision means that neither will take part. Henman said he wanted the week off to prepare for Roland Garros.
