Courier Puts On a Rerun in Paris : French Open: It’s old hat for defending champion, who beats Korda in workmanlike fashion, then pays tribute to Johnny Carson.

Jim Courier had just won his second French Open title Sunday when he suddenly turned, swung his tennis racquet like golf club and pointed to the man in the white hat sitting in the stands behind him. “Theeeere’s Johnny.”

Trying to instill a bit of Hollywood dramatics into an otherwise drab day of tennis, Courier paid tribute to Johnny Carson with his little gesture after routing yet another opponent at Roland Garros Stadium.

This time, the victim was Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, who offered little resistance in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 loss on Center Court that will be recalled only for its lack of Grand Slam emotion.

The only one to interrupt Courier’s concentration en route to his second Grand Slam tournament championship of the year was Carson, who was a fixture at Center Court the last week.

“It was a little disturbing, because every time Petr would serve to me I would see Johnny right behind me,” Courier said.

“I didn’t get to see his last show, so I was a little bit distraught about that. (But) it was kind of nice to be on stage and having him watch me , after I have watched him for years and years and years.”

Carson was one of 16,500 fans who witnessed an exhibition of excruciating tennis that lasted 1 hour 59 minutes Sunday afternoon.

Korda, playing in his first Grand Slam event final, made 49 unforced errors and nine double faults. Whenever he made a great shot, he followed with something bordering embarrassment. More than anything, this final was determined by Korda’s inability to mount a durable game.

“I knew how I was going to play, but it was a big question mark to me how he was going to play,” Courier said.

Korda reacted as most who have followed his career predicted. At times, he played aggressively and fearlessly, attacking even when he was in a predicament. At other times, he looked listless, poking at easy groundstrokes that dribbled into the net.

“Petr is always like that,” Courier said.

But even Courier was happily surprised at the collapse of Korda’s serve. Twice in the second set the Czech double-faulted to face a break point. The first time, he double-faulted again to lose his serve and fall behind, 4-2. At that point the match decided because Korda was a defeated man.

Korda offered an explanation that was about as precise than his first serve.

“My body, you know, didn’t work too much today,” he said.

Korda’s best Grand Slam tournament showing was a third-round appearance at the 1988 Wimbledon, so it was understandable that he found the pageantry of the Roland Garros final to be intimidating.

But he survived a semifinal on Center Court against Henri Leconte, a French sports hero, without much trouble. Korda said after defeating Leconte he did not sleep much, even though his coach’s strategy was to keep his mind occupied on something other than tennis.

“I was very nervous,” Korda said. “I couldn’t play my game. I was trying everything, but nothing was working.”

Of his serve, Korda said, “I was emotional. I started to serve and I was stiff like wood. I couldn’t swing. I cannot explain how I felt on the court.”

Furthermore, in facing No. 1-ranked Courier, Korda was challenging a player who had reached the final of four of the last five Grand Slam events, a player who was executing flawlessly. Courier won his second consecutive French Open by losing only one set in seven matches.

His ascent to the world’s No. 1 ranking and his performance in Paris the last two weeks has been daunting. After a loss in the 1991 Italian Open, his coach, Brad Stine, did not know what would become of this talented player.

Stine confronted Courier in the parking lot after the Rome loss, telling him in no uncertain terms to grow up.

“It does surprise me a little bit how he has changed,” Stine said Sunday. “You can see where the progress began. It started there in that parking lot.”

Courier seems cold and calculating on the court, and his peers respect him anyway as the embodiment of work ethic. Jose Higueras, Courier’s other coach, said his player has progressed because he has assembled an all-around game that he continually improves.

“He surprises me every day,” said Higueras, who will take Courier to La Quinta for a week of training in preparation for Wimbledon.

Stine said he and Higueras also were surprised how easily the final went for Courier, who did not play as well as he had earlier in the week. With Korda making all the mistakes, all he had to do was keep the ball in play.

Korda’s only moment came in the first set when he stayed even after six games. Instead of banging away from the baseline, Korda tried slices and drops, cross-court winners and funny hops to harass Courier.

In the eighth game, Courier made the first big move by breaking Korda, who lost the serve in four points. Instead of folding, Korda broke back, then won the next game to tie the set, 5-5.

After Courier took a 6-5 lead on his serve, Korda lost his concentration. He fell behind, 0-40, before realizing the stakes. On the point he lost the set, Korda attacked a high volley that looked as if it were going wide. It was close enough to play and he had a good angle on the shot, but sent it sailing way out of bounds.

Normally, Korda falters in such situations, but he still had a few breaths at the beginning of the next set. He broke Courier in the third game, and looked as if he would get his game working again. But when Courier broke back to tie the score, 2-2, it seemed to be the end.

Few gave Korda much hope after he double-faulted twice to lose the serve in the sixth game. They were right. He went quietly for Courier’s 23rd victory in a row.

Courier said he was proud of his effort at Roland Garros after winning his first Grand Slam tournament here last year.

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to react mentally,” he said. “I went out there and played to win instead of playing to lose, and I feel really good about that.”

Courier, 21, who afterward thanked the fans in French, is halfway to a Grand Slam, winning the Australian Open and here. After winning the Australian Open in January, Courier jumped in the Yarra River in Melbourne to celebrate.

He had no plans to duplicate the feat by going for a dip in the chilly Seine Sunday evening after winning this third Gland Slam title.

“If it was across the street we might have made it two for two, but there wasn’t anything around to jump in,” Courier said.