TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Courier, Edberg in Final Showdown Again

Playing in that sweet spot in time, defending champion Jim Courier racked up another nearly perfect victory today to return to the Australian Open final against Stefan Edberg of Sweden.

The No. 1-ranked Courier’s cool demeanor and sizzling serves carried him past hot-tempered Michael Stich, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2 as the German let line calls and errors rattle him.

No. 2 Edberg, still wearing a back support but showing little sign of strain from his injury last week, defeated No. 3 Pete Sampras, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), and for the second time denied the American the chance to vault to No. 1.

Courier, who hasn’t lost a set in six matches here, made only 10 unforced errors against the 1991 Wimbledon champion--only three more than in Courier’s most flawless match ever in the previous round against No. 7 Petr Korda.

Brad Stine, Courier’s coach, watched it all with pleasure.

“There’s been a big evolution in his game over the last two years,” Stine said. “Most guys would have called Jim Courier a grinder, a baseline basher, two years ago. Now we can say he’s an attacking ground-stroker, and that’s a big difference.

“Before he needed a road map when he got inside the service line. Now he’s much happier up there. Now he knows when to attack and where to hit his approach shots. He is volleying 60 to 70% better than two years ago.”

Courier quipped that he played better than in the semifinals last year, when he got a walkover to the final as Richard Krajicek withdrew because of an injury.

Courier’s victory assured that he will keep his top ranking. Sampras had a chance to become No. 1 by beating Edberg and then Courier. Edberg, playing for his third Australian title, also stopped Sampras from reaching the top when he beat him in the U.S. Open final in four sets.

“I’m happy with the way I’m playing,” Courier said. “I don’t care what I’m ranked.”

Courier yielded only five points on serve in the second set as he consistently hit the ball in the 110-115 m.p.h. range on first serves, yet the set turned more on Stich’s petulance and loss of concentration on one point in the ninth game.

After Courier held at love to tie the set, 4-4, Stich opened with a double-fault, one of nine he had in the match. Courier then drilled Stich’s next serve back past him for a winner, but Stich furiously complained to the umpire that the serve ticked the net and should have been called a let. It was a curious argument, Stich claiming his own serve wasn’t good, and it bothered him the rest of the game.

At deuce, Stich double-faulted again, then bounced his racket angrily on the court. Courier broke Stich on the next point with a forehand cross-court pass, and Stich immediately turned to scream at the net cord judge. To which she responded by going over to the umpire to complain about Stich’s abusive language. Stich was fined $2,000 earlier in the tournament for verbally abusing a 16-year-old lineswoman, to whom he later sent a note of apology.

“It just took a little bit off of my concentration,” Stich said of the non-call. “He hesitated and I hesitated. We didn’t want to play but she didn’t call it. It was my problem. I shouldn’t have let it bother me.”

From that moment on, Stich was never a threat. Courier closed out the set at 40-15 when Stich made his fourth error of the game.

“You don’t really know what Michael’s going to do,” Courier said of that outburst. “Michael can do that and come back and hit four winners or four losers. I managed to get a break. That helped me steamroll to another break. That was very big for me.”

Courier won nine of the last 11 games, but Stich thought the match got away from him earlier when Courier raced to a 5-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker, aided by two mini-breaks on cross-court passes.

“He had a good breaker,” Stich said. “He had a couple of lucky shots on his return. I think the first set was the key set of the match. He likes to be in front mentally. He’s very tough and very consistent. Once he’s ahead, you know you have to play one class better to get ahead or even. I had my chances. Mentally, I wasn’t good enough on the day today.”