Jim Courier, once again the top-ranked player in men's tennis, and former No. 1 Boris Becker are taking different routes to the upcoming U.S. Open.
Fresh from his first victory ever against Becker, Courier heads to New York seeking one of the two Grand Slam championships that has eluded him. And he goes after making the most of his powerful forehand, court quickness and strong serve in beating Becker 7-5, 6-3 Sunday to win the U.S. Hardcourts title.Becker also is going to New York. But, Courier will only practice while Becker competes in the Hamlet Cup tournament on Long Island.
Becker, who won the Open in 1989, wasn't sure if he belongs in a tournament or on the practice court this week.
Courier, who officially reclaims the No. 1 ranking in the world today after being No. 2 behind Pete Sampras for 19 weeks, domininated his opposition at the Indianapolis Tennis Center. In five matches, he never lost a set and dropped only two of his 46 service games.
"It's the best I have felt going in. Who knows what that means?," he said of the Open, where he finished second in 1991 and reached the semis last year. "I felt pretty poor the last two years. . . . We will just have to see what happens. But, I feel really good going in."
Courier will practice with coaches Jose Higueras and Brad Stine this week owning a 51-9 match record for 1993 with five tournament triumphs. The $152,000 he received here raised his earnings for the year to $1,680,336 and boosted his total earnings to a tour-record $6,516,795.
In New Haven, Conn., fifth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine beat fourth-seeded Petr Korda of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the Volvo Invitational on Sunday.
In Toronto, top-seeded Steffi Graf beat sixth-seeded Jennifer Capriati 6-1, 0-6, 6-3 on Sunday in the final of the Canadian Open.