Courier Agassi 1991 French Open Final

[TheDrowsyMadcap]

Huge D-Bag at 2:42 LMAO

[harryfm175]

Career = Courier :)



[TheSepaugh]

i respect all the former tennis greats but i feel that tennis is far more exciting today with the new technology and stuff,

Topspin shots have more topspin

Flat balls are way harder

The serves are far more massive(not including petes)

And most of the players have just as much athletic ability

and

[SerUresto]

@TheSepaugh Still not seen anyone thump forehands as hard as Magnus Larsson or Magnus Gustafson, and those guys didn't have super strings to help them. :)

Some of what you say is true, but to me that makes it more impressive when you go back and watch guys like Becker, Pete, Andre, Courier, and others pulling off shots that are as spectacular as anything hit today, because they didn't have super slow courts, puffy balls, and high tech strings to help them hit those shots.

[TheSepaugh]

@SerUresto but they are hit far more often now

[kinkabala]

This is Agassi at his prime in terms of hitting IMO ,

Those drives forehands and backhands would beat anyone on the tour todaybecause hardly any one hits the balls as flat on the rise

[rch9000]

I like & respect Courier, but Agassi is still the better tennis player. Most of Courier's wins over Agassi happened before Andre his his stride. And let's be honest, Courier disappeared rather abruptly after Agassi and Sampras began their 90's dominance. He never regained his #1 ranking, never won another grand slam, never played the same again. He deserves an A for effort, but he was out of his league.

[OliVentura]

Agassi was more talented as Courier! He had better and more variable shots.

But at this time Courier had a stronger mind and more playing intelligence.

Then a few years later came Brad Gilbert to train Agassi! So Agassi improved his mental and strategic playing...... And became #1 in the world

...And since then he was beaten Courier almost everytime!

[FedorEight]

What a great moment this was for tennis. Jim gives the Wigged One a lesson in clay power-tennis.

Was this the defeat that drove Andre into the hands of crystal meth and large-nosed women?

[KaitainCPS]

@FedorEight

Agassi had twice Courier's talent. After he started to master his demons, he proved it. Courier is almost forgotten now, whereas Agassi achieved a career grand slam (and indeed a golden slam), something even Sampras never managed.

[FedorEight]

@KaitainCPS Agassi's talent never helped him in the head-to-head. Jim pretty much owned him...

Agassi was a cry-baby, an insecure little bald-headed, wig-wearing meth-user with a love for schnozzes.

His fear of Pete was legendary: 1 of out 5 slam finales won? What a champ! What guts.

Besides, you're living in the past; using Sampras as a measuring stick is so passe. It's Federer and Nadal who have both surpassed Sampras - not to mention Agassi.

Golden slam? Olympic gold is utterly overrated.

[KaitainCPS]

@FedorEight

Of course I'm living in the past. Agassi has long since retired, and you would always compare a player with his contemporaries, not against other players from a more modern era where things like the racquet technology and average level of fitness have changed.

[KaitainCPS]

@FedorEight

And not entirely surprising that Courier's head to head against Agassi is so good: Courier essentially dropped out of the game in his mid-20s after only two seasons of being good and then tumbling down the rankings. He just didn't have the longevity. Maybe he didn't have the guts to regroup and rebuild after his game started falling apart. Unlike Agassi.

As I said, Courier is almost forgotten now, along with Chang. It's Sampras and Agassi who are remembered from that generation.

[nizzam1]

@KaitainCPS jim courier beat andre agassi at his best, do you honestly think agassi in this match wasnt playing some of the best tennis of his life, plus even in 95 when agassi was at the top of his game courier was the only one besides sampras to beat him on a hardcourt surface that year. courier played agassi in 95 tokyo outdoor championships and beat him 6-3, 6-4 plz give credit where its due

[KaitainCPS]

@nizzam1

Playing some of the best tennis of his life? Yes, intermittently. But he hadn't found the mental strength that would transform his game later in his career. Agassi at this point was going for Hollywood shots all the time, when it would have been smarter to play something simpler. Brad Gilbert changed that, made him a SMARTER player.

If you want to compile a highlights reel of Agassi's best shots, use the early part of his career. A reel of him dominating matches? Later on.

[kinkabala]

@KaitainCPS Yup I agree , the irony is I think his hollywood shots would of served him better and more slams on clay if he hadnt of bulked up as he did after this and destroyed the flexibilty that allowed him to generate those winners and pace.

Look at his 99 win and his shots are nowhere near as impressive , so muscling up really cost him there - though you could argue it was the lack of pace his over muscling cost him that lead to him being smarter and utilising the pace he did have better.

[captainspirou]

@kinkabala He was still able to hit those shots in 1999. The major change was his coach was now Brad Gilbert who told him to hold back a little to make his opponent run.

[KaitainCPS]

@nizzam1

And I mean...seriously, despite being slightly older than Courier, Agassi was winning slams TEN YEARS after Courier won his final slam. Courier was a flash in the pan...burned brightly for two seasons, but had no career longevity. Didn't have the all-round game, had no way of reinventing himself. He basically won four titles in a transitional period with no dominant players on the men's tour, with Becker & Edberg declining, and before Sampras had established himself as a force.

[nizzam1]

in 92 when courier became #1,edberg and sampras were ranked #2 and#3 respectively, plus there was agassi, becker, goran to name a few in the top 8 so i am not sure abt the lack of dominant players you are talking abt. ofcourse no one is denying agassi's longevity, but courier was just a bad match up for agassi since he cud not overpower, nor did he come to net as often so agassi cud not make passing shots against him. its just a case like fereira was a bad matchup for sampras or agassi to becker

[KaitainCPS]

@nizzam1

Edberg and Becker were waning powers; Sampras was not yet the dominant force that he would become. It was an unusually volatile period. Courier was the most consistent player during that short period, but he didn't have the game to remain #1 or challenge for slams afterwards.

Courier in his prime overpowered Agassi before his prime. After the mid-90s, Courier was trounced by Agassi. Agassi was still eating junk food during the period in which this match was played...

[nizzam1]

@KaitainCPS kaitin courier leads agassi in H2H 7-5. the last two matches they played were

1995 Tokyo Outdoor FR Hard (O) J.COURIER 6-3 6-4 and

1996 Australian Open QF Hard (O) A.AGASSI 7-6(7) 6-2 3-6 4-6 2-6

as you can see courier beat agassi on hardcourt in 95 one of agassi's best years and the last match they played was 5 set marathon. so i am not sure how agassi trounced courier after the mid 90s when they never played each other after 96.

[KaitainCPS]

@nizzam1

They played a series of private matches, organized by Courier, and Courier lost them all. He details the private feud, in his book "How I Spent Two Years At The Top Then Blew It".

[lorenavedon]

@KaitainCPS There is NOTHING on google about this book you speak of. Care to be more specific? Thanks. I could kill for that book

[KaitainCPS]

@FedorEight

As for the golden slam, well, Courier couldn't even manage a regular slam. He only ever won the French and the Australian, during his 2 years of being an effective force in tennis. Agassi won all four, something Sampras never did, and won twice as many slams as Courier, and indeed twice as much prize money. Not bad for a wig-wearing meth head.

[KaitainCPS]

And Courier was younger than Agassi. How come he wasn't even around to contest slams in later years while Agassi was winning them?

Maybe he didn't have the talent or the mental fortitude. Didn't he once spend a match reading a novel in public at the changeovers? Isn't that essentially crybaby behaviour, showing the world he was unhappy?

[ChristianPaul75]

I loved to watch Jim Courier´s game. His forehand was a deadly weapon in those days. His power and stamina made him one of the dominant players of the early 90s. Though Agassi played much better than the year before, Courier took the match in five sets, outplaying Agassi especially in set four and five. Although Agassi had won four of their five first encounters, Courier posted a winning streak of six matches against Agassi, starting in '91. Courier was Andre´s nemesis back then.

[vladinikolov01]

One of the best tennis matches ever. Agassi deserved to win

[mrperfect1879]

This could well have been the beginning of the powerful/hard hitting baseliners era of tennis starting to take over the serve-volley era?

[monceau27]

Agassi should 've won this one!

[17mickey17]

2:41. Chris Waddle... LEGEND

[sebriani]

2:05 is the former King of Iran's wife

[Pitonto]

Courier dominated that game

[qwer4o]

Wig wig wig wig wig wig wig .

[AchromaticAdulation]

Wig color? Are you fucking serious? Quit being just another hater, and moron, to consider these points relevant. He was a great tennis player, a legend. Go fuck yourself and all that put him donw.

[sammy4575]

at 2:23 , you can see different hair colour, the wig and the natural beneath.

[Maxilavolpe]

You´re a faggot....

Suck my dick, poor faggot!

[NaturalBornHedonist]

Toupet or NOT Toupet ... def a Toupet !!!

[UchihaGege]

waw agassis game was perfect on clay, lobs drop shots , stop volley sa good as sampras stop volleys!!

great backhand, forhand and he has the best and most beautiful points, how he could loose this game. ah typically andre!!!!

[shirgen6]

You know, for a match Courier won, there aren't a great deal of Courier highlights.

[junghoonsurvey]

Courier won this match because his tight shorts allowed for superior mobility, as apposed to the drag caused by Agassi's mullet.

[mathiyus]

haha nice

[masibubu]

great backhand by agassi

[vinodgopal1979]

agassi looks like a girl in this video!

[Tennis123abc]

Some lucky people will see these two play again on the champions tour.

[Tennis123abc]

It would be great to these these play again on the Champions Tour.

[Tennis123abc]

Exciting!

[ricannabis]

Courier was awesome.  Everyone knows that he is a better player than Agassi, mentally most of all. Andre is known to tank especially if the player on the other side of net starts to kick his ego out of the court. Andre may have more depth to his strokes, but Jim could beat him with his mental prowess, which is a big factor in this sport.

[nizzam1]

is courier playing with the pro staff 85 racket?

[JackHanma]

Andre is the man!

The Greatest ever!!

[bengtmartin]

I always felt Courier lacked some depth on his groundstrokes...

[LiquorWreckedEm]

I respect Courier because I think the guy got everything out of the ability he had. In that era with Pete and Andre, to win more than a few grandslams and be number 1 in the world, says a lot about the guy because he was nowhere near as talented as those guys. I always felt his backhand was his weakness. He had a hard time generating a lot of power with it unless the ball was in a perfect spot.

[Stier19812002]

@LiquorWreckedEm

His game was focused on his power especially the enormous power of his baseline hits. I think you cannot play in such a style over a longer period but in his time he was nearly unbeatable for Agassi or Sampras.

Why do you think he was not talented that much? I see him nearly on the same level like Becker or Edberg.

[ozroke1]

@Stier19812002 I think what LiquorWreckedEm is that the game didn't seem to come as naturally to Courier as it did to Sampras and Agassi. His shots are awkward and aren't technically very good, but he was able to win because he was such a fighter and worked his arse off to be the best he could possibly be. Mark Philippoussis on the other hand is a great example of a player that had loads of talent but no work ethic. If he worked as hard as Courier, who knows what he would've been able to do!

[JellyBelly6262]

@LiquorWreckedEm dude i just caddied for Jim Courier at myopia hunt club, he was such a nice guy and a great golfer, i didnt know much about him except that during his prime he had to go against guys like Pete and Agassi.

anyway he was a great guy to work for and paid me a ton. i was nervous at first cause he looked like a serious guy but he was just fooling around and cracking jokes the entire time, sorry for the random comment but i thought u might like to hear about his personality.

[dasdaka]

do u see his swing? he doesnt even take a full swing on his backhand or forehand

[pedrodiazalvear]

Andres Gomez was the besst in this game, he wasn´t looking for money or glamorous as agasi did

[gaterhater29483]

Agassi should have won this.Courier got lucky with the rain delay.

[LiquorWreckedEm]

I watched this match during study hall in high school and youre right, the rain delay DEFINATELY saved Couriers ass. Andre early on was a guy that was a great front runner, but if you got the guy thinking, he would choke a little. I think without the delay Agassi would have just steamrolled him.

[jayfey77]

wow already out of highschool and you still can't spell definitely.

[krogdog]

Sounds absurd nowadays...two Americans in the finals of the French Open!

[cinajawa]

It does, doesn't it? Actually, more like ... any American in any Grand Slam final!

[leonardodp34]

You said it all.

[jembozzo]

@krogdog because the need more doping like spanish team

[Ayrton1982]

Andre the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!