Jim Courier

Courier was raised in Dade City, Florida,^[3] and though he excelled at youth sports in general, after a certain point it became clear that tennis was where his true talent lay.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.

Since his retirement as a top-level player, Courier has served as a tennis analyst and commentator for the Tennis Channel, USA Network, NBC Sports, TNT, ITV, Sky Sports and the Seven and Nine Networks. Since 2005, Courier has headed the commentary for the domestic host broadcaster of the Australian Open, which was Seven from 2005 to 2018 and Nine since 2019. Courier calls many centre court men's singles matches for the network and often conducts the post-match on-court interviews with the winning player. He also provided special comments on the Seven Network's Wimbledon coverage between 2013 and 2019. Courier started working with the British channel ITV for the French Open in 2012. In 2015, Courier worked with the British channel Sky Sports for their US Open coverage. The Jim Courier Club House now stands on the grounds of the Dade City Little League complex in John S. Burks Memorial Park in Dade City, Florida. Courier is an alumnus of that Little League program.

In 2004, Courier founded InsideOut Sport & Entertainment, a New York-based event production company that owns and operates the Champions Series, Legendary Nights exhibitions as well as private corporate events.

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

Courier currently competes on the Champions Series and in various charity exhibition matches.

Courier married Susanna Lingman in 2010.

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.^[7]

In August 2019, Courier was working for Prime Video UK, for their exclusive coverage of the US Open.

In 2022, he co-presented popular Australian reality show Ninja Warrior for the Nine Network, whom he also works for on their Australian Open coverage each local summer.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1991	French Open	Clay	Andre Agassi	3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	1991	US Open	Hard	Stefan Edberg	2–6, 4–6, 0–6
Win	1992	Australian Open	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win	1992	French Open (2)	Clay	Petr Korda	7–5, 6–2, 6–1
Win	1993	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	1993	French Open	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss	1993	Wimbledon	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(3–7), 6–7(6–8), 6–3, 3–6

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1991	Frankfurt	Hard (i)	Pete Sampras	6–3, 6–7(5–7), 3–6, 4–6
Loss	1992	Frankfurt	Hard (i)	Boris Becker	4–6, 3–6, 5–7

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1991	Indian Wells	Hard	Guy Forget	4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win	1991	Miami	Hard	David Wheaton	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	1992	Rome	Clay	Carlos Costa	7–6(7–3), 6–0, 6–4
Win	1993	Indian Wells (2)	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
Win	1993	Rome (2)	Clay	Goran Ivanišević	6–1, 6–2, 6–2

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1989	Rome	Clay	Pete Sampras	Danilo Marcelino   Mauro Menezes	6–4, 6–3
Win	1990	Hamburg	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	Udo Riglewski   Michael Stich	7–6, 6–2
Loss	1990	Rome	Clay	Martin Davis	Sergio Casal   Emilio Sánchez	6–7, 5–7
Win	1991	Indian Wells	Hard	Javier Sánchez	Guy Forget   Henri Leconte	7–6, 3–6, 6–3
Win	1993	Montreal	Hard	Mark Knowles	Glenn Michibata   David Pate	6–4, 7–6

• These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

• ITF World Champion: 1992.
• ATP Player of the Year: 1992.

Courier has the following head-to-head records against the listed opponents (No. 1 ranked players in boldface):

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	Courier Rank
1989
1.	Andre Agassi	5	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	3R	7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2	47
2.	Stefan Edberg	3	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	F	7–6, 3–6, 2–6, 6–0, 7–5	35
3.	Aaron Krickstein	8	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	3R	6–2, 1–0, ret.	28
1990
4.	Aaron Krickstein	6	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	QF	6–2, 7–6	22
1991
5.	Andre Agassi	4	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	3R	2–6, 6–3, 6–4	26
6.	Emilio Sánchez	8	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	QF	6–2, 6–2	26
7.	Guy Forget	5	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	F	4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4)	26
8.	Guy Forget	5	Miami, United States	Hard	4R	7–6(7–3), 6–3	18
9.	Stefan Edberg	1	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	QF	6–4, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4	9
10.	Andre Agassi	4	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	F	3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4	9
11.	Pete Sampras	6	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	QF	6–2, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)	5
12.	Karel Nováček	9	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	RR	6–7(6–8), 7–5, 6–4	2
13.	Guy Forget	6	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	RR	7–6(7–4), 6–4	2
14.	Andre Agassi	8	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	SF	6–3, 7–5	2
1992
15.	Stefan Edberg	1	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	F	6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2	2
16.	Guy Forget	7	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	SF	7–6(9–7), 6–4	1
17.	Michael Chang	6	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	SF	6–2, 6–3	2
18.	Michael Chang	6	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	Hard	F	7–5, 6–3	1
19.	Goran Ivanišević	9	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	QF	6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5	1
20.	Petr Korda	8	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	F	7–5, 6–2, 6–1	1
21.	Andre Agassi	9	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	QF	6–3, 6–7(6–8), 6–1, 6–4	1
22.	Richard Krajicek	10	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	RR	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–1), 7–5	1
23.	Michael Chang	5	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	RR	7–5, 6–2	1
24.	Pete Sampras	3	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	SF	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)	1
1993
25.	Petr Korda	7	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	QF	6–1, 6–0, 6–4	1
26.	Stefan Edberg	2	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	F	6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5	1
27.	Michael Chang	5	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	SF	6–4, 6–4	1
28.	Michael Chang	9	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	Hard	SF	6–2, 6–3	2
29.	Michael Chang	10	Rome, Italy	Clay	SF	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–0	2
30.	Goran Ivanišević	6	Rome, Italy	Clay	F	6–1, 6–2, 6–2	2
31.	Stefan Edberg	3	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	SF	4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–4	2
32.	Boris Becker	4	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	F	7–5, 6–3	2
1994
33.	Goran Ivanišević	8	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	QF	7–6(9–7), 6–4, 6–2	3
34.	Goran Ivanišević	6	Miami, United States	Hard	QF	6–3, 7–5	5
35.	Pete Sampras	1	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	QF	6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4	7
1995
36.	Michael Chang	6	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	SF	6–4, 7–5	15
37.	Andre Agassi	1	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	F	6–3, 6–4	15
38.	Thomas Muster	3	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	4R	6–3, 6–0, 7–6(7–4)	15
39.	Michael Chang	5	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	QF	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–3), 7–5	15
40.	Michael Chang	4	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	QF	6–2, 7–6(7–5)	7
41.	Thomas Muster	3	ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	RR	6–4, 4–6, 6–4	7
1997
42.	Thomas Muster	5	Doha, Qatar	Hard	QF	6–3, 7–5	26
43.	Wayne Ferreira	8	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	QF	6–2, 7–5	22
44.	Richard Krajicek	6	Miami, United States	Hard	4R	7–6(8–6), 6–4	26
45.	Goran Ivanišević	5	Miami, United States	Hard	QF	6–2, 7–6(7–2)	26
46.	Pete Sampras	1	Rome, Italy	Clay	1R	7–6(7–5), 6–4	24
47.	Goran Ivanišević	3	Los Angeles, United States	Hard	SF	6–3, 6–4	29
48.	Thomas Enqvist	8	Los Angeles, United States	Hard	F	6–4, 6–4	29
1998
49.	Jonas Björkman	5	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	2R	4–6, 6–1, 7–6(7–4)	46
1999
50.	Tim Henman	7	Davis Cup, Birmingham, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	RR	7–6(7–2), 2–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–7(10–12), 7–5	54
51.	Carlos Moyá	10	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	2R	6–3, 3–6, 7–6(7–1), 3–6, 6–2	61
52.	Tim Henman	5	Montreal, Canada	Hard	2R	6–1, 6–7(3–7), 6–4	46
53.	Thomas Enqvist	9	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	3R	6–7(3–7), 7–6(7–4), 7–5	39

• 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]
• 2008: The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championship – defeated Wayne Ferreira 7–6(3), 7–6(1)

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

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jim Courier.

• Jim Courier at the Association of Tennis Professionals  
• Jim Courier at the International Tennis Federation  
• Jim Courier at the Davis Cup  
• Jim Courier at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Jim Courier at Olympedia  
• Jim Courier at Olympics.com