Courier Eliminates Krickstein : Tennis: Becker, Edberg, Agassi also sweep into semifinals at Indian Wells.

Just before sundown Friday, a message arrived by Courier.

Still aiming toward French Open. Stop. But have big job here. Stop. Play Edberg next. Stop. On a roll. If I’m lucky, there may be no stopping me--Jim.

Courier, a 19-year-old Floridian with hopes of storming Paris with a thundering forehand, put himself into a semifinal showdown today with Stefan Edberg by upsetting sixth-ranked Aaron Krickstein, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), in the Newsweek Champions Cup.

The 22nd-ranked Courier, a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open, beat Krickstein in a matchup of hard-hitters for the right to play the second-seeded Edberg.

Courier chose to be optimistic.

“I feel like I’ve got a good shot if I can get it in a groove,” Courier said. “But Edberg’s not No. 3 for nothing.”

And Boris Becker isn’t No. 2-ranked for nothing. The top-seeded Becker made short work of Jay Berger, 6-1, 6-2, and advanced to a semifinal against Andre Agassi, who defeated Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

Edberg defeated fellow Swede Jan Gunnarsson, 6-2, 6-2, and waited to see who he would play.

Courier’s victory was the day’s only upset, and it may improve his sleep. After losing a third-set tiebreaker, 9-7, to Mark Kratzmann in Philadelphia, Courier said he didn’t sleep for three nights.

“I kept replaying those points in my mind,” he said. “It was like a recurring nightmare.”

For Becker, he decided to cast off a bad dream, too. He decided not to play golf.

“I learned a lesson from last year, I think,” Becker said.

Becker needed only 65 minutes to avenge a year-old defeat, which he blamed on playing 18 holes of golf the day before. Berger, who administered Becker’s worst defeat in last year’s Newsweek tournament, 6-1, 6-1, smiled when Becker whispered something to him after the rematch.

“He said I was still up by one game,” said Berger, who acknowledged that there was little he could do against a formidable opponent playing at the top of his game.

“Boris is an unbelievably strong player,” Berger said.

Agassi, who said he wouldn’t comment further on the Davis Cup, was greeted by a smattering of boos as he walked on the court. But he said he was not fazed by the mixed reaction.

“I didn’t notice it too much at all,” said Agassi, who cut nothing from his post-match act.

He climbed over the net to shake hands with Sanchez and patted him on the back. Then Agassi peeled off his shirt, wadded it up in a ball and tossed it into the stands.

He wrapped up the tiebreaker as impressively, after splitting the first four points with Sanchez. Using a well-placed forehand lob winner, followed by a tricky 58 m.p.h. first serve that Sanchez returned long, and a deftly placed backhand volley, Agassi built a 5-2 lead and won the tiebreaker, 7-3.

Meanwhile, Becker served notice in the first set that there would be no recurrence of last year’s upset. He allowed only five points on his serve, broke Berger in the second and fourth games and deposited winners with ease.

Serving for the match at 5-2, Becker won the first point after a 115-m.p.h. first serve, got to 40-0 with a 110-m.p.h. ace and closed out the match with a service winner that Berger could only graze.

After sweeping into the semifinals, Edberg conceded that the struggle for No. 1 is between Ivan Lendl and Becker, but said he shouldn’t be overlooked.

“I don’t think I’m very far behind,” Edberg said. “Lendl has had a very good year already and he’s tough as well as Boris. I think they’re very very close.”

After making 86% of his first serves against Gunnarsson, Edberg’s arrival in the semifinals has been like clockwork.

So far, Edberg has beaten Scott Davis in 69 minutes, Sergi Bruguera in 58 minutes and Gunnarsson in 61 minutes.

Edberg said he is playing well and completely recovered from the stomach-muscle injury that forced him to retire in the Australian Open final.

Courier makes no secret of the fact that his big tournament of the year is the French Open, where endurance and shot-making are the most valued qualities.

“I like my forehand a lot and I like my competitiveness,” he said. “I don’t really give up.”