Jim Courier


James “Jim” Spencer Courier is an American former world No. 1 professional tennis player. For 15 years, he has been a commentator on the Australian Open for the host broadcaster, the Seven Network, and now the Nine Network. He is also an analyst for Tennis Channel. During his career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. He holds the record for being the youngest man to have reached the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, at the age of 22 years and 11 months. He also won five Masters 1000 series titles. Until Novak Djokovic in 2016, Courier was the last man to win both the Australian and French Open titles in the same calendar year.

Tennis career

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, 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 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.

After retirement from top-level tennis

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 Network. Since 2005 Courier has headed the commentary for the 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 has also provided special comments on the network's Wimbledon coverage since 2013. 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.
Jim 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 had led his country with a 10-8 record and two semi final appearances during his captaincy.
In August 2019 Jim was working for Prime Video UK for their exclusive coverage of the US Open Tennis Championships.

Career statistics

Grand Slam finals

;Finals: 7
ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1991French OpenClay Andre Agassi3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss1991US OpenHard Stefan Edberg2–6, 4–6, 0–6
Win1992Australian OpenHard Stefan Edberg6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win1992French Open Clay Petr Korda7–5, 6–2, 6–1
Win1993Australian Open Hard Stefan Edberg6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5
Loss1993French OpenClay Sergi Bruguera4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss1993WimbledonGrass Pete Sampras6–7, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6

Year-End Championship

;Finals: 2
ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1991FrankfurtHard Pete Sampras6–3, 6–7, 3–6, 4–6
Loss1992FrankfurtHard Boris Becker4–6, 3–6, 5–7

Masters Series

;Finals: 5
ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1991Indian WellsHard Guy Forget4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win1991MiamiHard David Wheaton4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win1992RomeClay Carlos Costa7–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win1993Indian Wells Hard Wayne Ferreira6–3, 6–3, 6–1
Win1993Rome Clay Goran Ivanišević6–1, 6–2, 6–2

Records

ChampionshipYearsRecord accomplishedPlayer tied
Grand Slam1991–1993Youngest to reach all four Grand Slam finals Stands alone
French Open—Australian Open1991–1993Simultaneous holder of consecutive Australian and French Open titlesStands alone
Grand Slam1992Winner of Australian Open and French Open in the same calendar yearRod Laver
Mats Wilander
Novak Djokovic

ATP career finals

Singles: 36 (23 titles, 13 runner-ups)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.October 9, 1989Basel, SwitzerlandHard Stefan Edberg7–6, 3–6, 2–6, 6–0, 7–5
Win2.March 11, 1991Indian Wells, USAHard Guy Forget4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win3.March 25, 1991Key Biscayne, USAHard David Wheaton4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win4.June 10, 1991French Open, Paris, FranceClay Andre Agassi3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss1.September 9, 1991US Open, New York City, USAHard Stefan Edberg2–6, 4–6, 0–6
Loss2.November 18, 1991ATP Championships, Frankfurt, GermanyCarpet Pete Sampras6–3, 6–7, 3–6, 4–6
Win5.January 27, 1992Australian Open, Melbourne, AustraliaHard Stefan Edberg6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Loss3.February 10, 1992San Francisco, USAHard Michael Chang3–6, 3–6
Loss4.February 17, 1992Brussels, BelgiumCarpet Boris Becker7–6, 6–2, 6–7, 6–7, 5–7
Win6.April 13, 1992Tokyo, JapanHard Richard Krajicek6–4, 6–4, 7–6
Win7.April 20, 1992Hong Kong, UKHard Michael Chang7–5, 6–3
Win8.May 18, 1992Rome, ItalyClay Carlos Costa7–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win9.June 8, 1992French Open, Paris, FranceClay Petr Korda7–5, 6–2, 6–1
Loss5.August 24, 1992Indianapolis, USAHard Pete Sampras4–6, 4–6
Loss6.November 23, 1992ATP Championships, Frankfurt, GermanyCarpet Boris Becker4–6, 3–6, 5–7
Win10.February 1, 1993Australian Open, Melbourne, AustraliaHard Stefan Edberg6–2, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5
Win11.February 15, 1993Memphis, USAHard Todd Martin5–7, 7–6, 7–6
Win12.March 8, 1993Indian Wells, USAHard Wayne Ferreira6–3, 6–3, 6–1
Loss7.April 19, 1993Hong Kong, UKHard Pete Sampras3–6, 7–6, 6–7
Win13.May 17, 1993Rome, ItalyClay Goran Ivanišević6–1, 6–2, 6–2
Loss8.June 7, 1993French Open, Paris, FranceClay Sergi Bruguera4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss9.July 5, 1993Wimbledon, London, UKGrass Pete Sampras6–7, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Win14.August 23, 1993Indianapolis, USAHard Boris Becker7–5, 6–3
Loss10.April 18, 1994Nice, FranceClay Alberto Berasategui4–6, 2–6
Loss11.October 24, 1994Lyon, FranceCarpet Marc Rosset4–6, 6–7
Win15.January 9, 1995Adelaide, AustraliaHard Arnaud Boetsch6–2, 7–5
Win16.March 6, 1995Scottsdale, USAHard Mark Philippoussis7–6, 6–4
Win17.April 17, 1995Tokyo, JapanHard Andre Agassi6–3, 6–4
Win18.October 2, 1995Basel, SwitzerlandHard Jan Siemerink6–7, 7–6, 5–7, 6–2, 7–5
Loss12.October 9, 1995Toulouse, FranceHard Arnaud Boetsch4–6, 7–6, 0–6
Win19.March 4, 1996Philadelphia, USACarpet Chris Woodruff6–4, 6–3
Win20.January 6, 1997Doha, QatarHard Tim Henman7–5, 6–7, 6–2
Win21.July 28, 1997Los Angeles, USAHard Thomas Enqvist6–4, 6–4
Win22.October 6, 1997Beijing, ChinaHard Magnus Gustafsson7–6, 3–6, 6–3
Win23.April 27, 1998Orlando, USAClay Michael Chang7–5, 3–6, 7–5
Loss13.February 26, 1999Memphis, USAHard Tommy Haas4–6, 1–6

Doubles: 11 (6–5)

Major tournament singles performance timeline

Professional Awards

Courier has the following head-to-head records against the listed opponents :

Champions Series titles

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