Jim Courier

 

Jim Courier

Country	United States
Residence	New York, U.S.
Date of birth	August 17 1970 (1970--) (age 37)
Place of birth	Sanford, U.S.
Height	ft  in ( m)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg)
Turned Pro	1988
Retired	2000
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	$14,034,132
Singles
Career record:	506-237
Career titles:	23 (27th in overall rankings)
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (20 February, 1992)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (1992, 1993)
French Open	W (1991, 1992)
Wimbledon	F (1993)
U.S. Open	F (1991)
Doubles
Career record:	124-97
Career titles:	6
Highest ranking:	No. 20 (9 October, 1989)
Infobox 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 ATP career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. In 2004, he co-founded InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, a New York City based sports event company. He also co-founded Courier's Kids, a non-profit organization that supports after school tennis and education programs. Courier continues to compete today on the Outback Champions Series and in select exhibitions and events worldwide. He is on the board of directors of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Courier's Kids, First Serve, and The Gullikson Foundation.

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.

Courier turned professional in 1988 and made his Grand Slam breakthrough in 1991 when he won the French Open singles title, defeating his former Bollettieri Academy-mate Andre Agassi in five sets. He also reached the final of the US Open that year, where he lost to Stefan Edberg.

1992 saw Courier win both the Australian Open and French Open titles and enjoy a 25 match winning streak. 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. 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 1993, Courier again won the Australian Open. He reached his third consecutive French Open final, which he lost to Sergi Bruguera. He also reached the 1993 Wimbledon final, which he lost to Pete Sampras.

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.

In the 1990s Courier popularized wearing a baseball cap while on court.

Courier retired from the ATP tour in 2000. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

Playing style

Courier relied on his physical conditioning to win matches, and he was widely known as one of the hardest workers on the ATP Tour. He was a power baseliner that hit an extreme western grip forehand that he used to dictate play. By contrast his two-handed backhand was a distinct weakness that was frequently attacked by other players. In his early and most successful years, he was able to use his quickness and conditioning to hit "off" crosscourt forehands from the backhand corner to great effect. He favored long rallies and wars of attrition. The slow red clay of the French Open and the slower hard courts of the Australian Open suited this strategy, and he won both tournaments twice. As his legs aged and his commitment wavered, he was increasingly unable to compensate for his weaker backhand, resulting in a slow, steady decline in his results.

After retirement from ATP tennis

Since his retirement as an ATP player, Courier has served as a tennis analyst and commentator for the USA Network, NBC Sports, TNT and Channel Seven Australia.

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 has founded Courier's Kids, a non-profit organization that supports tennis in the inner city of St. Petersburg, Florida.

He currently competes on the BlackRock Tour of Champions and the Outback Champions Series and in various charity exhibition matches.

In 2004, Courier won three of the six BlackRock tournaments he played. In 2005, Courier finished #1 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 #1 in the Outback series.

Courier is currently scheduled to play in 2007 Outback Champions Series tournaments in Naples, Boston, Newport, Charlotte, Dallas, and Houston as well as select exhibitions and events worldwide.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	French Open	Andre Agassi	3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
1992	Australian Open	Stefan Edberg	6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
1992	French Open (2)	Petr Korda	7-5, 6-2, 6-1
1993	Australian Open (2)	Stefan Edberg	6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5

Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	U.S. Open	Stefan Edberg	6-2, 6-4, 6-0
1993	French Open	Sergi Bruguera	6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1993	Wimbledon	Pete Sampras	7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3

Tennis Masters Cup singles finals

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	Frankfurt	Pete Sampras	3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-4
1992	Frankfurt	Boris Becker	6-4, 6-3, 7-5

Masters Series singles finals

Wins (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	Indian Wells	Guy Forget	4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
1991	Key Biscayne	David Wheaton	4-6, 6-3, 6-4
1992	Rome	Carlos Costa	7-6(3), 6-0, 6-4
1993	Indian Wells (2)	Wayne Ferreira	6-3, 6-3, 6-1
1993	Rome (2)	Goran Ivanišević	6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Career finals

Singles wins

Legend Grand Slam (4) Tennis Masters Cup (0) ATP Masters Series (5) ATP Tour (14)

Titles by Surface Hard (17) Grass (0) Clay (5) Carpet (1)

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

Singles runner-ups

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

Doubles wins

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	22 May, 1989	Rome, Italy	Clay	Pete Sampras	Danilo Marcelino Mauro Menezes	6-4, 6-3
2.	14 May, 1990	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	Udo Riglewski Michael Stich	4-6, 6-1, 7-6
3.	11 March, 1991	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Javier Sánchez	Guy Forget Henri Leconte	7-6, 6-1
4.	19 April, 1993	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Mark Knowles	Glenn Michibata David Pate	6-1, 1-6, 7-6
5.	9 January, 1995	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Patrick Rafter	Byron Black Grant Connell	7-6, 6-4
6.	26 April, 1999	Orlando, U.S.	Clay	Todd Woodbridge	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7-6(4), 6-4

Doubles runner-ups

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	8 May, 1989	Forest Hills, U.S.	Clay	Pete Sampras	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	4-6, 6-4, 6-4
2.	21 May, 1990	Rome, Italy	Clay	Marty Davis	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	7-6, 7-5
3.	11 April, 1994	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Javier Sánchez	Yevgeny Kafelnikov David Rikl	6-3, 6-4
4.	6 October, 1997	Beijing, China	Hard (i)	Alex O'Brien	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	7-5, 7-6
5.	11 January, 1999	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Patrick Galbraith	Gustavo Kuerten Nicolás Lapentti	6-4, 6-4

Major tournament singles performance timeline

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	2R	4R	W	W	SF	QF	QF	4R	A	3R	1R	2 / 10
French Open	A	4R	4R	W	W	F	SF	4R	QF	1R	2R	2R	A	2 / 11
Wimbledon	A	1R	3R	QF	3R	F	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	4R	A	0 / 11
U.S. Open	2R	3R	2R	F	SF	4R	2R	SF	A	1R	A	1R	A	0 / 10
Grand Slam SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 4	1 / 4	2 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 1	4 / 42
ATP Tour World Championships	A	A	A	F	F	RR	A	RR	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 4

A = did not participate in the tournament

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

External links

• ATP Tour profile for Jim Courier
• International Tennis Hall of Fame Profile
• Davis Cup record
• JimCourier.com.ar : pictures, profile, biography, titles and quotes
• Jim Courier at the Internet Movie Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by Stefan Edberg Stefan Edberg Stefan Edberg	World No. 1 February 10, 1992 - March 22, 1992 April 13, 1992 - September 13, 1992 October 5, 1992 - April 11, 1993	Succeeded by Stefan Edberg Stefan Edberg Pete Sampras
Awards
Preceded by Stefan Edberg	ITF World Champion 1992	Succeeded by Pete Sampras

World No. 1s in Men's tennis
Ilie Năstase | John Newcombe | Jimmy Connors | Björn Borg | John McEnroe | Ivan Lendl | Mats Wilander | Stefan Edberg | Boris Becker | Jim Courier | Pete Sampras | Andre Agassi | Thomas Muster | Marcelo Ríos | Carlos Moyà | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | Patrick Rafter | Marat Safin | Gustavo Kuerten | Lleyton Hewitt | Juan Carlos Ferrero | Andy Roddick | Roger Federer

Australian Open men's singles champions*

* Open Era • (1969) Rod Laver • (1970) Arthur Ashe • (1971-72) Ken Rosewall • (1973) John Newcombe • (1974) Jimmy Connors • (1975) John Newcombe • (1976) Mark Edmondson • (1977 [Jan]) Roscoe Tanner • (1977 [Dec]) Vitas Gerulaitis • (1978-79) Guillermo Vilas • (1980) Brian Teacher • (1981-82) Johan Kriek • (1983-84) Mats Wilander • (1985) Stefan Edberg • (1986) No competition • (1987) Stefan Edberg • (1988) Mats Wilander • (1989-90) Ivan Lendl • (1991) Boris Becker (1992-93) Jim Courier • (1994) Pete Sampras • (1995) Andre Agassi • (1996) Boris Becker • (1997) Pete Sampras • (1998) Petr Korda • (1999) Yevgeny Kafelnikov • (2000-01) Andre Agassi • (2002) Thomas Johansson • (2003) Andre Agassi • (2004) Roger Federer • (2005) Marat Safin • (2006-07) Roger Federer

French Open men's singles champions*

* Open Era • (1968) Ken Rosewall • (1969) Rod Laver • (1970-71) Jan Kodeš • (1972) Andrés Gimeno • (1973) Ilie Năstase • (1974-75) Björn Borg • (1976) Adriano Panatta • (1977) Guillermo Vilas • (1976) Jimmy Connors • (1977) Guillermo Vilas • (1978-81) Björn Borg • (1982) Mats Wilander • (1983) Yannick Noah • (1984) Ivan Lendl • (1985) Mats Wilander • (1986-87) Ivan Lendl • (1988) Mats Wilander • (1989) Michael Chang • (1990) Andrés Gómez • (1991-92) Jim Courier • (1993-94) Sergi Bruguera • (1995) Thomas Muster • (1996) Yevgeny Kafelnikov • (1997) Gustavo Kuerten • (1998) Carlos Moyà • (1999) Andre Agassi • (2000-01) Gustavo Kuerten • (2002) Albert Costa • (2003) Juan Carlos Ferrero • (2004) Gastón Gaudio • (2005-07) Rafael Nadal

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