PARIS, May 24 (AFP) - Former Australian Open champion Petr Korda said Monday that he hopes to beat a drug ban and continue playing at the highest level. The Czech left-hander said his future lays in the hands of three judges who will soon hear his case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. If the court upholds a one-year ban imposed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the 31-year-old veteran will end his career in Paris - where he played in his first Grand Slam tournament over a decade ago. Korda failed a drug test after a quarter-final at Wimbledon last year and was subsequently banned from the sport. An appeals panel of the International Tennis Federation initially ruled that Korda had committed a doping offence and stripped him of his Wimbledon prizemoney and ranking points. Korda initially avoided a suspension when the panel decided there were mitigating circumstances to suggest he had not taken the banned substance Nandrolone knowingly. The ITF then reversed its decision, slapping a one-year ban on him, only for Korda to immediately appeal. The appeal was upheld but the ITF was later given the go-ahead to launch its own appeal to the Lausanne court for the ban to be reinstated. "If it's my last tournament, fine, it's going to be my last tournament," Korda said. "But if the French Open is going to be my last tournament, it's not going to be from my decision. I would love to carry on. "I feel I still have lots of energy to carry on until the end of the year. Right now I'm enjoying what I'm doing. "Really I came here to enjoy my tennis.I want to play and I want to talk about the tennis. I don't want to discuss this issue." Korda said the threat of a ban had damaged his love of the sport. "It's killed my game, it's killed my personality on the court. But it didn't kill me as a person," he said. Korda, a French Open finalist in 1992, advanced to the second round here on Monday with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over Spain's Alberto Martin. He now plays defending champion Carlos Moya, also of Spain.  