Courier closes career

Jim Courier, a former number 1 has called the curtain on a career full of dramatic highs and lows. He was ranked number 1 back in 1992, a position which he held for 36 weeks. He won 4 grand slams, 2 each at the Australian and French Open and also reached the final of Wimbledon and the US Open. But he appeared to suffer from an early burn out, being caught reading at one point during a match at the end of 1993. After this he never reached another grand slam final. However, his rivalry with Pete Sampras in the early 1990's electrified the sport as they battled for the number 1 spot. Their match in the 1995 Australian Open was considered by many to have been one of the greatest in the sport. This article will look over the turbulant career of Jim Courier.

The highlight of Courier's career was undoubtedly his ascendancy to the world number 1 ranking in 1992. He had a rivalry with Swedish great Stefan Edberg for the number 1 spot early on in the 1990's, and later with Pete Sampras. Although Sampras has a dominating record over Courier (16-4), they had an engrossing rivalry early on. During 1993 Sampras took Courier's number 1 position with a win over him in the final of the Hong Kong tournament. But it was a close affair with Sampras squeezing him out 6-3, 6-7(7-1), 7-6(7-2). That year Sampras confirmed his number 1 status with a victory over Courier in the Wimbledon final. Courier was devastated by the loss, but was able to reclaim the position after winning at Indianapolis in August. But Sampras took the position back again, and that was the last time Courier threatened the top spot.

In 1994 he was crushed in the Australian Open semi-finals by Pete Sampras in straight sets. That year he failed to win any singles titles, a humiliation for a man who had been ranked number 1 in the previous year. He did however show patches of good form, with a brilliant revenge win over Pete Sampras to reach the French Open quater-finals, going on to reach the semis.

In 1995 he made something of a comeback. Courier won 4 titles and reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open as well as the semi-finals of the US Open. It was only Pete Sampras who stopped him on both occasions.

That was however his last appearance at the business end of a Grand Slam tournament. Over the next 4 and a half years he only won 5 more titles, and none since April of 1998.

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