U.S. OPEN

September 7, 1992

Jim Courier

JIM COURIER: I don't know. But you could probably come up with a few days from the past for me. I don't know.

Q. What is the feeling going in against him, and he is saying it is probably his last match?

JIM COURIER: Well, you know, it is just-- I try not to think about it. Anything like that, I go out and worry about what I am doing out there more than anything.

Q. In the third set and the-- what was different in the third set than the first two?

JIM COURIER: John started returning a lot better and my service percentage probably went down a little bit, gave him a few more second serves to look at, and he was more the aggressor than the first two sets where I was the aggressor, and had him at the baseline, generally, and the third set, he kind of got his game going; kept coming to the net knocking off good volleys. He was serving better too. That just came down to the breaker.

Q. How well do you feel you played throughout the match?

JIM COURIER: I thought I played pretty well. I played a bad game when I got broken. Other than that, I played pretty solid.

Q. Jim, did you feel the pressure of the crowd when you walked on the court?

JIM COURIER: Well, I know what to expect. Obviously, last year with Connors, going out there was kind of a similar match, so, you know, I know what it's going to be like, and just don't really think about it too much. I just kind of know what to expect and do my game.

Q. Jim, you looked very comfortable from the very beginning. Is it the case when long before the match you just decide for yourself, if I hold this guy past their way, I could lose here?

JIM COURIER: I am not going to say that, no. I wouldn't be baited by that one.

Q. Was there a time in the match when you felt that he could get back in it and bring a threat to your winning?

JIM COURIER: You know, the match was, for me, never over until that last point. And I always felt the threat that he was in the match.

Q. Was the photographer thing a distraction at all?

JIM COURIER: I got distracted on one point from the same thing, I think he did. I think the automatic rewind on the cameras, and -- I think it distracted him a lot more than it distracted me.

Q. Is that a legitimate complaint?

JIM COURIER: Well, you know, John always takes things to extremes. I said something to the guy on my side when he did it to me. I think that it is a little tough in the middle of the point, all of a sudden you have this "whirrrrr" sound going on, and out of nowhere, it is a little bit disconcerting.

Q. He talked about, sort of, enough is enough. He is playing well, but he can't really beat the top guys, you, Andre, or Pete, or something like that. Do you feel that he is-- that he can't beat you guys when you guys are playing well now?

JIM COURIER: I wouldn't say that. I'd say that any given day John can beat anybody.

Q. Jim, is it difficult, even when you are playing as well as you were the first two sets and just hitting them all over the place. When he starts to play well in the third set, are you always aware that this isn't somebody you should beat 6-2, 6-2, but this is a guy who is still capable of being dangerous; he is who he is?

JIM COURIER: Sure. Well, sure, you never count anybody out, least of all, John. And, you know, I knew that just because I won those two sets, 2 and 2, that doesn't have any bearing on the third set. I know he is going to come out firing and coming forward, which is what he did. The third set was a point here and a point there, and I managed to get through it.

Q. Do you have any special feeling about this win, being that you won so well, other than just being business as usual?

JIM COURIER: About this what?

Q. About this win.

JIM COURIER: This win?

Q. Yes.

JIM COURIER: It is a good win. I played very well, and I am happy to get the chance to play John at the U.S. Open, you know, he won four. Connors won five. I played both of them here on the big court in front of the big crowds. That is something that I am sure I will look back on when I am retired. I will look back at the tapes and really enjoy them, I am sure.

Q. Jim, however briefly, does your mind ever skip ahead to the day when you will have won four or five U.S. Opens, and the new Jim Courier will be kicking your butt off the court?

JIM COURIER: If you guarantee that right now, I will just go hit the beach.

Q. You know, but --

JIM COURIER: Who can say what is going to happen? There is going to come a time when it's going to be time for me to hang up the racket and hopefully I will be able to do it gracefully. Right now, I am still young, and it's a little too early for me to be thinking along those lines.

Q. What do you think the game will miss from John's absence if you don't see him in these tournaments anymore?

JIM COURIER: Oh, John is a very big personality. People love to come out and see him play. And you know, I have said it before, and I think in my opinion, at his peak, I don't think there was anybody that can beat him when he was playing his best on grass. I don't think there is another player that could have beaten him. That is my opinion. Take it for what it is worth. I am not the all-be-all of the world, but I am sure we are going to miss him when he is gone. You just don't replace talents just like that. There are some other players, surely, but there will never be another John. I am not writing him off, by the way. I am not putting him in the grave, because he has still got at lot of good tennis in him.

Q. Would you like to see him keep playing?

JIM COURIER: Yeah, I think it is good for the game. As long as he enjoys it, you know, I think that it will be great for him to keep playing, because everyone certainly loves to watch him play. But it is completely his decision. If he is not having fun, or if he doesn't feel competitive, then he may decide to put it down. But you never know.

Q. He mentioned that he wanted to be the next Davis Cup Captain. Do you think that is a possibility?

JIM COURIER: I will stay out of that one. No politics for me.

Q. He said he feels that the top players are ahead of him. Do you feel that way; and what step? Is it power? Has he lost speed? Reflexes at the net?

JIM COURIER: When John -- John played great tennis this year, particularly at Wimbledon, and Australia, as well. When he is at the top of his game, he is right there with everybody. Maybe John doesn't have as many great days as he used to, but when he is playing well-- I mean, he knocked Becker off in Australia. That is a pretty good win.

Q. He said he felt well today, but bottom line, you beat him. You guys are a step ahead of him?

JIM COURIER: Maybe them. I don't know.

Q. What is your first recollection of him?

JIM COURIER: Well, my biggest recollection was the final with Borg, you know, the five setter, 8-6 in the fifth with the tiebreaker, I guess it was '80. He came back and got him next year in '81.

Q. You watched that?

JIM COURIER: Yeah.

Q. Any thoughts on your next match?

JIM COURIER: It will be a tough one either way.

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