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Jim Courier

Country	United States
Residence	New York City, New York, USA
Date of birth	August 17, 1970 (1970-08-17) (age 39)
Place of birth	Sanford, Florida, USA
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg; 13.0 st)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2000
Plays	Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money	$14,034,132
Int. Tennis HOF	2005 (member page)
Singles
Career record	506–237
Career titles	23 (27th in overall rankings)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (February 20, 1992)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (1992, 1993)
French Open	W (1991, 1992)
Wimbledon	F (1993)
US Open	F (1991)
Doubles
Career record	124–97
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 20 (October 9, 1989)
Last updated on: June 29, 2006.

James Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr. (born August 17, 1970, in Sanford, Florida) is a former world number one professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open.

Tennis career

As a junior player in the 1980s, Courier attended the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and won the prestigious Orange Bowl in 1986 and 1987, as well as the French Open junior doubles title in 1987.

Courier turned professional in 1988 and made his Grand Slam breakthrough at the 1991 French Open when he defeated Stefan Edberg and Michael Stich to reach his first Grand Slam final. In the final, he defeated his former Bollettieri Academy-mate Andre Agassi in five sets to win his first Slam. He made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon before losing to eventual champion Stich. At the US Open, he defeated defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals and then Jimmy Connors in the semifinals before losing the final to Edberg.

1992 saw Courier defeat Edberg to win the Australian Open; he then followed this result by defeating future Grand Slam champions Thomas Muster, Goran Ivanisevic, Agassi and Petr Korda to successfully defend his French Open title. Courier also enjoyed a 25 match winning streak during the season. In February of that year, he became the tenth player to reach the World No. 1 ranking since the ranking system was implemented in 1973, and first American since John McEnroe; he finished 1992 as the World No. 1 ranked player. Courier also was a member of the US team that won the 1992 Davis Cup. In 1992, Courier was the top seeded player at the Olympics in Barcelona where he lost in the third round to eventual gold medalist Marc Rosset from Switzerland.^[1]

In 1993, Courier again won the Australian Open, defeating Edberg in the final for the second consecutive year. He reached his third consecutive French Open final, which he lost to Sergi Bruguera. He also reached the 1993 Wimbledon final, defeating Edberg in the semifinals, and lost to Sampras in four sets. Courier became the first player since Rod Laver to reach the finals of the Australian, French and Wimbledon in the same season; the feat was not matched until 2006 by Roger Federer. Courier again was part of the US team that won the 1995 Davis Cup.

1993 was a peak of sorts for Courier, as he never reached the same heights during the rest of his career. It is possible that he succumbed to the pressure of remaining on top of the rankings, or he didn't know what to do next after making it to the top of the mountain. Mats Wilander similarly experienced this, as evident in his rapid decline after winning 3 of the 4 majors and taking the number 1 ranking during 1998. Courier attracted some additional attention when he thumbed his way through a novel during the changeovers in a loss to Andrei Medvedev in the 1993 ATP Tour World Championship. "He's not himself right now," said Courier's coach after the match. "He's obviously not emotionally or psychologically at a level to compete with these guys. Toward me he's the same, but there are probably a lot more things going on in his life than in the first year we started working together. I think it's understandable. Most of the top players go through something like this. They have a little letdown, and then they regroup." ^[2]. His year end ranking reflected this trend, going from 13, 8, 26, 21, 77, 34, 290 in the years 1994-2000.

Courier captured a total of 23 singles titles and 6 doubles titles during his career. He spent a total of 58 weeks ranked as the World No. 1 in 1992 and 1993. He reached the finals of all four major championships during his career. Courier retired from the ATP tour in 2000. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

After retirement from top-level tennis

Since his retirement as top-level player, Courier has served as a tennis analyst and commentator for the USA Network, NBC Sports, TNT and the Seven Network. Since 2005 Courier has headed the commentary for the host broadcaster of the Australian Open, The Seven Network. Courier calls all centre court men's singles matches for the network. He also conducts the post match on-court interviews with the winning player.

In 2004, Courier founded InsideOut Sport & Entertainment, a New York-based event promotion company that owns and operates the Outback Champions Series, the Ultimate Fantasy Camp, and the Legendary Nights exhibition series.

He also founded Courier's Kids, a non-profit organization that supports tennis programs in the inner city of St. Petersburg, Florida. Courier serves on the board of directors of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Courier's Kids, First Serve, and The Gullikson Foundation.

Courier currently competes on the BlackRock Tour of Champions and the Outback Champions Series and in various charity exhibition matches. In 2004, he won three of the six BlackRock tournaments he played. In 2005, he finished as the No. 1-ranked player on that tour with two more tournament wins.

In March 2006, Courier won the Outback tournament in Naples, Florida, defeating Pat Cash in the final, and in Charlotte, North Carolina, defeating Todd Martin in the final. Courier finished the year as the No. 1 player in the Outback series. Courier is currently scheduled to play in the Outback Champions Series tournaments in Naples, Boston, Newport, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston and Dubai as well as select exhibitions and events worldwide.

Records

• These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 7 finals (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1991	French Open	Clay	Andre Agassi	3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	1991	US Open	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Winner	1992	Australian Open	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	1992	French Open (2)	Clay	Petr Korda	7–5, 6–2, 6–1
Winner	1993	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5
Runner-up	1993	French Open	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1993	Wimbledon	Grass	Pete Sampras	7–6(3), 7–6(6), 3–6, 6–3

ATP Tour Championships finals

Singles: 2 finals (2 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1991	Frankfurt	Hard (i)	Pete Sampras	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1992	Frankfurt	Hard (i)	Boris Becker	6–4, 6–3, 7–5

Masters Series finals

Singles: 5 finals (5 titles)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1991	Indian Wells	Hard	Guy Forget	4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(4)
Winner	1991	Key Biscayne	Hard	David Wheaton	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	1992	Rome	Clay	Carlos Costa	7–6(3), 6–0, 6–4
Winner	1993	Indian Wells (2)	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
Winner	1993	Rome (2)	Clay	Goran Ivanišević	6–1, 6–2, 6–2

Career finals

Singles (36)

Wins (23)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	October 9, 1989	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	7–6(6), 3–6, 2–6, 6–0, 7–5
2.	March 11, 1991	Indian Wells, USA	Hard	Guy Forget	4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(4)
3.	March 25, 1991	Key Biscayne, USA	Hard	David Wheaton	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
4.	June 10, 1991	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Andre Agassi	3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4
5.	January 27, 1992	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
6.	April 13, 1992	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Richard Krajicek	6–4, 6–4, 7–6(3)
7.	April 20, 1992	Hong Kong, UK	Hard	Michael Chang	7–5, 6–3
8.	May 18, 1992	Rome, Italy	Clay	Carlos Costa	7–6(3), 6–0, 6–4
9.	June 8, 1992	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Petr Korda	7–5, 6–2, 6–1
10.	February 1, 1993	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5
11.	February 15, 1993	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Todd Martin	5–7, 7–6(4), 7–6(4)
12.	March 8, 1993	Indian Wells, USA	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
13.	May 17, 1993	Rome, Italy	Clay	Goran Ivanišević	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
14.	August 23, 1993	Indianapolis, USA	Hard	Boris Becker	7–5, 6–3
15.	January 9, 1995	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Arnaud Boetsch	6–2, 7–5
16.	March 6, 1995	Scottsdale, USA	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	7–6(2), 6–4
17.	April 17, 1995	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–4, 6–3
18.	October 2, 1995	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Jan Siemerink	6–7(2), 7–6(5), 5–7, 6–2, 7–5
19.	March 4, 1996	Philadelphia, USA	Carpet	Chris Woodruff	6–4, 6–3
20.	January 6, 1997	Qatar, Doha	Hard	Tim Henman	7–5, 6–7(5), 6–2
21.	July 28, 1997	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	6–4, 6–4
22.	October 6, 1997	Beijing, China	Hard (i)	Magnus Gustafsson	7–6(10), 3–6, 6–3
23.	April 27, 1998	Orlando, USA	Clay	Michael Chang	7–5, 3–6, 7–5

Runner-ups (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	September 9, 1991	US Open, New York City, USA	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–2, 6–4, 6–0
2.	November 18, 1991	ATP Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	Pete Sampras	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–4
3.	February 10, 1992	San Francisco, USA	Hard (i)	Michael Chang	6–3, 6–3
4.	February 17, 1992	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Boris Becker	6–7(5), 2–6, 7–6(10), 7–6(5), 7–5
5.	August 24, 1992	Indianapolis, USA	Hard	Pete Sampras	6–4, 6–4
6.	November 23, 1992	ATP Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	Boris Becker	6–4, 6–3, 7–5
7.	April 19, 1993	Hong Kong, UK	Hard	Pete Sampras	6–3, 6–7(1), 7–6(2)
8.	June 7, 1993	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
9.	July 5, 1993	Wimbledon, London, UK	Grass	Pete Sampras	7–6(3), 7–6(6), 3–6, 6–3
10.	April 18, 1994	Nice, France	Clay	Alberto Berasategui	6–4, 6–2
11.	October 24, 1994	Lyon, France	Carpet	Marc Rosset	6–4, 7–6(2)
12.	October 9, 1995	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Arnaud Boetsch	6–4, 6–7(5), 6–0
13.	February 26, 1999	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Tommy Haas	6–4, 6–1

Men's doubles (11)

Wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament Name	Tournament Location	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	May 22, 1989	Italian Open	Rome	Clay	Pete Sampras	Danilo Marcelino Mauro Menezes	6–4, 6–3
2.	May 14, 1990	Masters Series Hamburg	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	Udo Riglewski Michael Stich	7–6, 6–2
3.	March 11, 1991	Newsweek Champions Cup	Indian Wells, California, U.S.	Hard	Javier Sánchez	Guy Forget Henri Leconte	7–6, 3–6, 6–3
4.	April 19, 1993	Canadian Open	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Mark Knowles	Glenn Michibata David Pate	6–4, 7–6
5.	January 9, 1995	Australian Hardcourt Championships	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Patrick Rafter	Byron Black Grant Connell	7–6, 6–4
6.	April 26, 1999	U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships	Orlando, Florida, U.S.	Clay	Todd Woodbridge	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7–6(4), 6–4

Runner-ups (5)

No.	Date	Tournament Name	Tournament Location	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	May 8, 1989	Forest Hills Classic	Forest Hills, New York, U.S.	Clay	Pete Sampras	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	6–4, 6–2
2.	May 21, 1990	Italian Open	Rome	Clay	Martin Davis	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	7–6, 7–5
3.	April 11, 1994	Open Seat	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Javier Sánchez	Yevgeny Kafelnikov David Rikl	5–7, 6–1, 6–4
4.	October 6, 1997	China Open	Beijing, China	Hard (i)	Alex O'Brien	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	7–5, 7–6
5.	January 11, 1999	Australian Hardcourt Championships	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Patrick Galbraith	Gustavo Kuerten Nicolás Lapentti	6–4, 6–4

Major tournament singles performance timeline

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Outback Champions Series titles

• 2005: Stanford Cup Houston - defeated Todd Martin 6-2, 6-3
• 2006: Champions Cup Naples - defeated Pat Cash 6-4, 7-6(8)
• 2006: The Championships at the Palisades - defeated Martin 5-7, 7-6(6), 10-4 (tiebreaker)
• 2008: The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championship - defeated Wayne Ferreira 7-6(3), 7-6(1)

NOTE: In Outback Champions Series tournaments, there are only two sets. A tiebreaker to ten is held instead of a third set.

References

External links

• Jim Courier at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Jim Courier at the International Tennis Federation
• Jim Courier at Davis Cup
• International Tennis Hall of Fame Profile

Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World No. 1 players Ilie Năstase (1973/1974 - 40 w) · John Newcombe (1974 - 8 w) · Jimmy Connors (1974/1983 - 268 w) · Björn Borg (1977/1981 - 109 w) · John McEnroe (1980/1985 - 170 w) · Ivan Lendl (1983/1990 - 270 w) · Mats Wilander (1988/1989 - 20 w) · Stefan Edberg (1990/1992 - 72 w) · Boris Becker (1991 - 12 w) · Jim Courier (1992/1993 - 58 w) · Pete Sampras (1993/2000 - 286 w) · Andre Agassi (1995/2003 - 101 w) · Thomas Muster (1996 - 6 w) · Marcelo Ríos (1998 - 6 w) · Carlos Moyà (1999 - 2 w) · Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1999 - 6 w)  · Patrick Rafter (1999 - 1 w) · Marat Safin (2000/2001 - 9 w) · Gustavo Kuerten (2000/2001 - 43 w) · Lleyton Hewitt (2001/2003 - 80 w) · Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003 - 8 w) · Andy Roddick (2003/2004 - 13 w) · Roger Federer (2004/2010 - 272 w) · Rafael Nadal (2008/2009 - 46 w) ATP rankings incepted on August 23, 1973 · (year first held/year last held - number of weeks (w)) · current No. 1 in bold, as of March 1, 2010