Jim Courier Answers Tennis-X.com Fan Questions

Posted on September 19, 2006

By Tennis-X.com Staff

Former No. 1 Jim Courier took time out to answer questions from Tennis-X.com message board members ahead of this week's The Championships at The Palisades senior tour event in Charlotte, NC, which begins on Wednesday, Sept. 20. With the ATP-sanctioned senior tour previously functioning only in Europe, Courier has brought senior tennis back to the U.S. via the Outback Champions Tour.

X-Fan: The racket/string technology has been blamed for the demise of serve/volley. Now you preferred to stayed back and were successful. So is it just technology or you were never really encouraged and/or interested to do it from an early age?

JC: "My style was formulated at a young age largely based on my natural tendencies as well as the surface -- we played the majority 10 and under tournaments on in Florida (green clay). Serving and volleying is typically something that stems from the coaching one receives at a young age and I was successful from the baseline and not encouraged to change the formula. The homogenization of surface speed has lead to less success for serve/volleyers but ultimately people aren't coaching it and that's why you see less of them on tour."

X-Fan: What do you think about going back to wood racquets or setting a racquet standard?

JC: "It's tough to put the genie back in the bottle at this stage."

X-Fan: What was your opinion of the "banana incident" with Maria Sharapova at the US Open and coaching from the stands?

JC: "Anything that gets extra publicity for tennis is good (and I would think the radio stations had a field day with this one) but this 'incident' is a non-issue from my perspective. In-game coaching and support will always be there and those who think otherwise are pretty naive."

X-Fan: Will you please take (at least) one of the American ATP players under your wing and coach them to play on clay and win the French Open and Davis Cup away ties by imparting the same patience, point construction, extreme physical conditioning and dedication that you used to win 2 French Open titles and become #1 in the world?

JC: "Thank you for the kind words. Our players recognize the need to be fit and dedicated to succeed on any surface they compete on. I have seen vast improvement in both James [Blake] and Andy [Roddick] as far as shot selection in recent tournaments and that has lead to success for them. The key for them and Mardy [Fish], Robby [Ginepri], etc. is to play their style of tennis effectively on any and every surface rather than trying to overcompensate for surface or atmospheric conditions. You have to hit more quality offensive shots on clay because opposition's defense is better. That is a given. But trying to "become a clay court" grinding type player is not the answer to success on that surface. It's all in the minor modifications that lead to major differences in results.

"As for taking our players under my wings, they have quality coaches working with them full time and I have a full-time job with InsideOut Sports and Entertainment organizing and operating tennis events year round. I barely have time to do TV at Australia and the US Open these days let alone take on a coaching assignment."

X-Fan: How do you feel about the future of senior tennis around the world?

JC: "I am very bullish on the Outback Champions Series here in the USA. There is a terrific line-up of players actively participating and some other great names that I hope will join the Series in the near future. So far in the first season there have been fantastic events in Naples and Boston and the Fall swing begins this week in Charlotte where Sergi Bruguera, Wayne Ferreira and Jimmy Arias make their OCS debuts. There are new TV deals with Fox Sports Net for live and delayed regional coverage for all three remaining events in 2006, The Championships at The Palisades in Charlotte, The Stanford Championships in Memphis and The Stanford Cup in Houston. Tennis Channel and Voom HD will have rebroadcasts of the tournaments as well so I hope tennis fans around the country will enjoy seeing the Outback Champions Series action even if they can't make it to the events. You can follow match results on the website, www.championsseriestennis.com. With players like John McEnroe, Todd Martin, Michael Chang, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Goran Ivanisevic, Aaron Krickstein, Mikael Pernfors, Petr Korda, Thomas Muster and others participating, the events have been competitive and compelling. The first OCS rankings champion will be crowned by the end of The Stanford Cup in Houston this November. Expect to see growth in the OCS domestically in the next few years from the current slate of 5 events, hopefully to a city near you.

"In Europe, the Merrill Tour is ongoing and successful.

"The constant refrain I hear is that this style of tennis is a nice compliment to the Slam/ATP/WTA tours. People love seeing players they know and grew up with. They also love seeing the variety of styles they feel is lacking in the current generation of players on Tour. The prize money in each event, with every match worth $, underlines the competitive nature of the tournaments and Series. Above all it's about the connection the audience feels with the players. We are all playing hard but at the same time are not afraid to tear down the wall that traditionally exists between the audience and the player. The fans get to interact with the players on the Outback Champions Series and they love that."

Jim Courier is an active player on the Outback Champions Tour, organized by InsideOut Sporta and Entertainment, of which he is a founding partner.