GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 6, 1996

Jim Courier

JIM COURIER: You know I hate when you do that.

JIM COURIER: First question. (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)

JIM COURIER: Certainly difficult match and I really haven't played many matches since the French Open, so, you know, it is always difficult-- more difficult to get the mind going than it is the body. The body is willing, but the mind, you know, takes a while to turn it back on and get into the intensity. So I am happy with the fight that I showed out there and stayed with it the whole way and that is the best thing about that match for me.

JIM COURIER: Yeah, I have been practicing, just normal practicing trying to stay out of -- I actually practiced out in California at some friend's house, friends' of mine house to try and avoid the humidity as much as possible. In the summer, it is kind of beachy, if you stay there all the time.

JIM COURIER: I think at this stage of my career I really don't need to, to trade with that recklessness that I did when I was younger. Right now I know what I need to do to get myself ready and I don't have to beat myself up quite as much.

JIM COURIER: They are very, very big point tournaments so it certainly helps your ranking if you do well and it is very important -- it is important to do well mentally because you are playing against the best players.

JIM COURIER: I think that -- I certainly wasn't pacing myself out there. You can't afford to. And ever since I have been playing, you couldn't afford to. I think that there has always been, you know-- guys are always good and getting better, for sure.

JIM COURIER: I didn't see any of the tennis. I didn't know that it was on at all on NBC, frankly. And I didn't miss being there at all. I really enjoyed watching it on television and I enjoyed watching the events that I like to watch at the Olympics, like the gymnastics and the swimming, diving, track and field, and some other sports that you normally -- you just don't see all the time and in my opinion, we are in the spotlight, you know, basically all year round, every year, and I think it detracts from the games when professional athletes that have their moments every year are in there stealing time away from the athletes that train for four years for that one particular moment of -- I think it is not really what the Olympics spirit is about, in my opinion. That is why I wasn't there this year. Grant it, I went to Barcelona; didn't enjoy the tennis event. I enjoyed being in the village and the opening ceremony, but the actual tennis is a bit of a let-down because it is just the same old, same old; same as this week, actually weaker.

JIM COURIER: Absolutely. I think they are making a big mistake if they put baseball and football in, but Samaranch, he is a greedy, greedy person.

JIM COURIER: If you want to seriously compete in the Olympics, you can't stay in the village. So that is simple. If you are, quote unquote, celebrity, which he most certainly is, he would be hounded to no end and I was ranked No. 1 in the world when I played the Olympics and I was hounded and I am no where near as possible as he is, so I could only imagine of what it would have been like for him.

JIM COURIER: If it stays warm, certainly the conditions will play a part in the tournament and normally I do better the most in extreme conditions. It was a night match tonight so we had only the humidity to contend with; not really the heat.

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