US OPEN

August 31, 1999

Jim Courier

USTA: Questions for Jim.

JIM COURIER: A little quicker than I wanted it to be. Slava is a tough player for me. I've had trouble with him. He beat me pretty badly this year in Adelaide. When he plays aggressively like that on a quick court such as this one, it's a tough match-up for me. I knew it was going to be a tough match-up for me. You know, he just half volleys a lot of shots, sticks the ball close to the line. He played well when he needed to.

JIM COURIER: That's for sure. These courts are way too fast. Maybe it's to my advantage. I played well at Wimbledon. I played well in Birmingham when it was fast indoors. I don't think it's a fair surface. You know, I think it's too bad because you're not going to see good tennis. You're not going to see as good tennis as you would see on a slower, fairer court. I think the groundstrokers are at a big disadvantage.

JIM COURIER: I think it's accidental. I think it's merely accidental. There's no good reason for it. I don't think that the USTA has any intention of making this like Wimbledon. In light of what you, the media, tend to perceive, the Men's Championships at Wimbledon as (boring) because it's one-shot rallies, I don't see where there would be any reason to make it more like this. I think the idea of the US Open is to kind of make it in the middle between the French Open and Wimbledon, the fairest test for everybody where you can groundstroke or serve-and-volley. I think they made a mistake. Seems like the last couple years they've made a mistake with the court.

JIM COURIER: The Davis Cup players and Gully made it a point to tell the USTA to slow it down. I was very surprised when I came here and they weren't slow. You know, I don't think it was an intended result. I just think it happened.

JIM COURIER: I think it's too bad for Pete. He's been playing the best tennis in the world since Queen's Club, and had every right to believe he was the favorite coming in. You know, to have your bubble burst by an injury like that, it's tough, it's tough. You've got to feel for him.

JIM COURIER: It can be.

JIM COURIER: If I knew that, I wouldn't be sitting here.

JIM COURIER: Having not had any experience with back injuries, I don't think it's fair for me to comment, other than to say you've seen a lot of people's careers come to a close with back injuries. I hope that won't be the case for Pete.

JIM COURIER: I don't know. I don't know. I really couldn't tell you. I wasn't at the practice court when the injury occurred. Sometimes, for example, an injury like MaliVai's knee in Brazil, there's really no logical explanation for it, other than maybe it was just wear and tear and eventually it just burst. That could be with Pete. That kind of idle speculation from someone with my limited medical knowledge is beside the point, isn't it?

JIM COURIER: Well, Pete has been through that, too. Pete has missed a few Slams along the way with injuries. He knows what it's like to be home and feel like you're on the couch watching everyone else go forward and you're just kind of treading water. What's it like? It's not a lot of fun. But it is what it is, you know. He's been doing it for a lot of years. You're going to get injuries, certainly more later in your career than earlier in your career. He's been lucky, for sure. Hopefully, this won't be a major injury. Hopefully, it will just be a little blip on the screen and he'll be back in for the indoor season.

JIM COURIER: Doc knows best.

JIM COURIER: Home. How about that?

JIM COURIER: Next tournaments will be in Europe, later in the season. Nice little break at home will do the kid some good.

JIM COURIER: Was that in the player's box?

JIM COURIER: People in the player's box, two of them, on the cell phone mid match. I think that's rather cheesy.

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