Not About to Play Second Fiddle, Courier Ousts Agassi in 4 Sets

When is there a disagreement between two tennis players?

Apparently, when one of them is Andre Agassi, whose uncanny ability to cover himself in controversy spans continents.

Sunday, it followed him to France, where he not only played listlessly and lost to Jim Courier, but also took time to psychoanalyze his opponent.

The end of the first week of the French Open was also the end of Agassi’s stay. He lost Sunday to Courier, an 18-year-old Floridian, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in a match that had been suspended because of darkness Saturday night.

Courier tossed his racket high into the air when the match was over, and after accepting congratulations from Agassi, paused to savor his victory.

Agassi didn’t wait around. He grabbed his bag and was quickly gone. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about old times.

Courier and Agassi are both products of the Nick Bollettieri tennis school in Florida where their fortunes began to part. While Agassi became an instant sensation under the guardianship of Bollettieri, Courier felt deprived of his own coach’s interest.

Courier used the words second fiddle.

After losing to Courier, Agassi said there is something else beneath the surface.

“As far as his being second fiddle, it sounds like an insecurity problem or something,” Agassi said. “Nick is probably not emotionally committed to anyone else. I don’t know how Jim Courier could feel that way.”

This is not a new feud, actually. It is about money, influence and ego, or everything associated with big-time tennis. Courier mentioned the problem at the Tournament of Champions in New York when he played and lost a match to Agassi while Bollettieri sat with the Agassi family.

“It is sometimes difficult on the court when he’s your coach and you don’t know if he will be rooting for you or against you,” Courier said. “I hope he isn’t against me.

“Andre is the big name and people always associate his name with Bollettieri and I never really come into that equation,” Courier said. “I guess I must accept it.”

The match resumed with Agassi trailing, 4-2, in the third set and Courier kept the pressure on. Agassi saved three set points at 5-3, but Courier won with a screaming forehand service return winner.

Agassi lost his serve at love in the first game of the fourth set and lost it again in the fifth game when he made back-to-back errors on easy shots.

Then trailing 5-2 and serving to stay in the match, Agassi fell behind, 15-40, and watched as Courier sent a backhand cross-court winner to end it.

Afterward, Agassi said it wasn’t that he was so bad, but that Courier was so good.

“When you can hit a winner from six feet behind the baseline to right inside the service line, I mean there’s not much a person can do.”

Boris Becker was wondering what he might do in his fifth set against Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina. Facing a match point, Becker pulled himself together. He hit a blistering forehand passing shot down the line to break Perez-Roldan’s serve, then came back to win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

“In the fifth set, it does not have much to do with tennis anymore,” Becker said. “He was flowing and flying before, but in the fifth set, it takes more than two passing shots to win.”

Becker, seeded second, will have a rematch against Floridian Jay Berger, who in March gave Becker the worst defeat of his career, 6-1, 6-1, at Indian Wells.

“I hope I will make more than two games here,” Becker said.

Berger gave up the first set to France’s Thierry Tulasne, then dominated the match and won in a breeze, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-3.

The decidely pro-Tulasne crowd cheered the last Frenchman left, but there was one loud voice from the stands in Berger’s behalf.

“It was probably some distant relative from America,” Berger said. “Every American in France is your distant relative.”

Third-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden continued to put distance between himself and his opponents. Edberg, who has lost only one set so far, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 victory over 17-year-old Yugoslav, Goran Ivanisevic.

The only men who have not lost a set are top-seeded Ivan Lendl and fourth-seeded Mats Wilander.

Edberg’s opponent will be Alberto Mancini of Argentina, who eliminated sixth-seeded Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland the hard way, winning the first two sets and the fifth. Mancini defeated Hlasek, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4.

In retrospect, Courier was gratified by his victory over Agassi, but wasn’t sure whether it would enable him to move up to first fiddle.

“I still won’t be No. 5 in the world after this, so I don’t think anything will change,” he said. “Maybe it will help my ranking a little (he is No. 47), but I don’t worry about it.”