SKILL IS WILLING BUT SPIRIT IS GONE
INDIANAPOLIS-- Former world number one Jim Courier is planning a temporary sabbatical from tennis after
failing to capture a tournament crown for an entire year, and may skip the US Open beginning late this month.
The 10-th ranked Courier made his announcement last Tuesday, one day before his 24th birthday and following a
disastrous second-round 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss to 43rd ranked Alex Corretja of Spain at the $1.04 billion RCA
Championships.
"I'm just tired," said the fifth-seeded Courier. "Physically, mentally and emotionally spent, basically."
Courier didn't know when he will be taking to the courts again, even saying that "it is a possibility" that he will
skip the US Open, which begins on Aug. 29.
"The rackets are in the bag right now, " Courier said. "They are going to stay there ujtil my heart tells me to
pick them up again. I don't know if that is going to be one day, one week, one month, one year, ten years. But they
will stay in the bag until I am hungry to come back and play."
It has been a dry season for Courier, who hasn't hoisted a tournament trophy since beating Boris Becker of
Germany here a year ago.
Courier will drop out of the top 10 rankings when the new ATP Tour rankings are released on Monday. He will
move into the low teens for the second time this year. He was out of the top 10 for four weeks following
Wimbledon.
The only final Courier has reached in 1994 was in Nice, France, in April. He tumbled there to another
little-known Spaniard, Alberto Berasategui, in two easy sets.
The problem seems to be that Courier, once known as a tenacious bulldog on the curt, can no longer find his
resolve. After winning the first set over the 43rd ranked Corretja, the American said he "kind of lost interest."
"It was all my doing out there," Courier said. "There is not any problem with the way I am hitting the ball.
There is a problem inside and I'm really not sure what it is. The only way to figure it out is to just take a step away
and come back when I'm ready."
SOURCE: Philippine Star, 1994