THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 20, 1999

Jim Courier

JIM COURIER: I had my chances. Pete came up with the goods. I mean, I said yesterday sometimes it's better to catch a guy like Pete early in the tournament. For me, I know he's always going to come out and play tough. I think we have a history that he likes. He wants to keep on top. I knew it was going to be a difficult match, and it was a difficult match. It was a few points in the first set. He played a good game to break me. Second set I had some breakpoint chances, he came up with the good serves. In the tiebreaker, he just played a little cleaner than I did.

JIM COURIER: Yeah. I feel like I'm playing well. I like the way I'm hitting the ball. I like the way I'm competing. It's like Brad, my coach said to me after the match, "Keep playing like that, you're going to win a lot of matches and do well." I've been playing like that since Memphis, actually. Keep going with that.

JIM COURIER: I actually just heard that after my match as well. I don't know the veracity of that.

JIM COURIER: Until I know a little more about it, it would be unfair for me to comment, other than to say speaking for all the players, we loved Doc Fareed. We always had a great relationship with him. We'll definitely want an explanation if, indeed, he has been let go, as you say. As to the reasons why, he's been an integral part of our team for many years.

JIM COURIER: If what you're saying is it's a new set of standards, there's been kind of an ultimatum as to what a certain standard the doctor has to have to be the team doctor, it sounds like maybe there's not much gray area for us. It sounds like a pretty cut-and-dry situation. In the future, if we get more players involved in the USTA, if we have guys who have been on Tour that are involved in those decisions, I think the current generation of players will be a lot happier with those decisions, knowing they come from players that understand the game, have been out here on the Tour, understand the trials and tribulations of playing. At the moment, it seems like there's not a whole lot of those decisions being made by former players, unfortunately. But that can change.

JIM COURIER: Have I? I couldn't say one bad word about the guy. I don't think you could get anybody, on or off the record, to give anything but praise from him. It's a mystery. I'd like to find out about that.

JIM COURIER: No.

JIM COURIER: Davis Cup. Practice and go raise the flag. We'll see what happens.

JIM COURIER: I'm kind of waiting like everybody else. I haven't spoken to Gully, like everybody else. He'll make an announcement pretty soon.

JIM COURIER: Yeah. I mean, I'm aware of how everybody's doing. It's pro tennis. Some days you win, some days you lose. I think we'll be fine when we get over there. We'll do our best.

JIM COURIER: I practiced with him in Palm Springs.

JIM COURIER: When we practiced together, he played unbelievable. It was as good as he's ever been. I think he must have been playing spectacularly to get to the semifinals. He beat a lot of good people last week.

JIM COURIER: That's country. When he's all healthy, that's the way he is.

JIM COURIER: Not specifically. I'm happy to talk about it.

JIM COURIER: Yeah. I was just informed of that.

JIM COURIER: I don't know enough about it at the moment to make a comment other than to say I think we all loved Doc Fareed. If that is the case, we'll certainly miss him dearly. I'll want to know why and try to understand it because he's been such an integral part of our team.

JIM COURIER: I wouldn't say that, no. If that's the case, I don't want to downplay the fact of how much I appreciate everything that he does for our team. I'm disappointed that he's not going to be with us from here on in. I don't understand exactly the whole scenario yet. It's hard for me to really give a fair comment.

JIM COURIER: I guess.

JIM COURIER: I suppose. The continuity is a very nice part of a team. Although our team changes personnel player-wise. We've had the same medical staff, trainer, massage therapist, captain now for many years. To disrupt that is not the most helpful, certainly. We'll do what we have to do.