Jim Courier
Full name: James Spencer Courier
Nickname: Jim
Nickname: Jim
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| Bio | He is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Courier won four major singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open, and was the youngest man to reach the singles finals of all four majors, at the age of 22 years and 11 months. He also won five Masters titles and was part of the victorious United States Davis Cup teams in 1992 and 1995. Since 2005 he has worked as a tennis commentator, notably for Nine (and previously Seven), the host broadcaster of the Australian Open. He is also an analyst for Tennis Channel and Prime Video Sport. Courier was raised in Dade City, Florida, and though he excelled at youth sports in general, after a certain point it became clear that tennis was where his true talent lay. As a junior player in the 1980s, Courier attended the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and won the prestigious Orange Bowl in 1986 and 1987 (the first to win back-to-back titles since Ivan Lendl), 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 roommate 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, and he celebrated by jumping into the nearby Yarra River. He then followed this result by defeating future Grand Slam champions Thomas Muster, Goran Ivanišević, Agassi and Petr Korda to successfully defend his French Open title. Afterward, Courier charmed the Parisian crowd by delivering a victory speech in French. Courier also enjoyed a 25-match winning streak during the season. In February of that year, following the San Francisco tournament, he became the tenth player to reach the world no. 1 ranking since the ranking system was implemented in 1973, and the 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 he 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. In 1993, Courier again won the Australian Open, defeating Edberg in the final for the second consecutive year, and jumped into the Yarra a second time, but it was to be his last such celebration after contracting a stomach bug from the muddy and polluted river. He reached his third consecutive French Open final, which he lost to Sergi Bruguera in five sets. He also reached the 1993 Wimbledon final, defeating Edberg in the semifinals, and lost to Sampras in four sets. By reaching the Wimbledon final, Courier had reached the finals of all four Grand Slams at the age of 22, a record which still stands in men's singles. Courier also 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. 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, a feat accomplished by only seven other male players in the Open Era. Courier retired from the ATP tour in 2000. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Courier returned to the tour at the 2005 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships when he received a wildcard into the doubles draw partnering Andre Agassi. The pair lost in the first round to eventual finalists Martín García and Luis Horna in three sets. It would be the last match of Courier's career. On October 27, 2010, Courier was named captain of the United States Davis Cup team, replacing Patrick McEnroe. Courier stepped down from the role after the 2018 semi-final defeat to Croatia. Courier led his country with a 10–8 record and two semi-final appearances during his captaincy. "He had his own deadly dance—the Backside Boogie. That was Jim Courier, shuffling swiftly to his left to strike with a dynamite inside-out forehand. It’s a fairly standard tactic now, but it was Courier who first made it pay off in substantial dividends: four major championships, and in 1992 the No. 1 world ranking. He finished in the ATP top 10 for three other years: Nos. 2, 3 and 8 in 1991, 93, 95. And also was in the U.S. top 10 eight times between 1991 and 1998, No. 1 in 1991-92. He was born on Aug. 17, 1970, Sanford, Florida, as James Spencer Courier, he grew up in Dade City, Florida. Turned pro in 1988 while a hopeful at Nick Bollettieri’s tennis boot camp, and the next year began his romance with French earth by jolting camp-mate, No. 5 seed Andre Agassi, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the fourth round at Roland Garros. The French returned his love, especially when he beat Agassi again for the 1991 title, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, amid rain and a dust storm, then delivered his acceptance speech in French, unique for an American in Paris. “Beeg Jeem!” they called him, admiringly, awed by his solid frame (6-1, 182 lbs) and slugging double-handed backhand along with the racing forehand. He won again the following year, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1, over Czech Petr Korda, but couldn’t make a fifth set service break hold up against Spain’s Sergi Bruguera in the 1993 final, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Still, he was the lone American guy to make three straight French finals, alone, too, among Americans in holding the Roland Garros (clay) and Australian (hard) titles at the same time, 1992. Jim beat Stefan Edberg 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in Melbourne, and dittoed in 1993, 6-2, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, over the Swede for his fourth major. Edberg got him in the 1991 U.S. title bout, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0, but Jim countered in a 1993 Wimbledon semi, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, then lost to Pete Sampras, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-3. It all meant that Courier appeared in every major final, a rarity that he shares with only two countrymen, Don Budge and Agassi. In winning the Italian twice—1992 over Carlos Costa of Spain, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 6-4; 1993 over Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2—he is the only American man to win a pair in Rome and Paris. A formidable competitor, he was a mainstay of seven U.S. Davis Cup teams, 1991-92, 94-95, 97-98-99, Cup winners in 1992 and 1995, 16-10 in singles. He was the Cup-clincher against Switzerland in ‘92, beating Jakob Hlasek, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Thrice he won the decisive fifth match, a U.S. record: over Netherlander Jacco Eltingh in 1994, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Russian Marat Safin in 1998, 0-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Brit Greg Rusedski in 1999, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 1-6, 8-6. The last, an excruciating screamer at Birmingham, England, enabled the U.S. and Australia to butt heads in a quarter-final celebrating the 100th year of Davis Cup at its origin, Boston’s Longwood Cricket Club. The U.S. was 13-1 with Jim in the lineup. The “1” was Australia in 1999 — his Cup finale. Retiring in 2000, he had won 23 singles (a finalist in nine others), 13 doubles pro titles, $14,033,132 in prize money, had a 25-match winning streak in 1992. His W-L in singles 506-237, doubles 124-97. In 2004, he founded his own sports and entertainment company, InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, and in 2005, brought champions (over 30) seniors tennis back to the United States starting the Outback Champions Series circuit, which grew global. Jim was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005." (Bud Collins) |
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