TENNIS CHAMPIONS CUP : No. 1 Courier Will Meet Ferreira in Final

At least Jim Courier played according to the script in the Newsweek Champions Cup tennis tournament, which promised a star-studded show and, instead, gave us Wayne’s World and a Russian flake.

Courier, the No. 1 player in the world and the top-seeded player in this tournament, made his way into today’s final with a 6-4, 6-4 victory Saturday over Michael Chang, the defending champion.

Courier trailed in both sets, 2-0, but was able to break back against Chang’s service each time and then close out each set with Chang serving at 4-5. Chang, who is No. 5 in the world and seeded No. 4 in the tournament, had beaten Courier in three of their previous six meetings. But every time Chang tried to take his game up a notch, Courier moved up accordingly.

“The breaks he got in each set were never really deep into the set,” Courier said, implying that the 2-0 deficits were nuisances that could be flicked away with a couple of big forehands.

Courier’s opponent in the final will be Wayne Ferreira, a 23-year-old South African, who has serve-and-volleyed his way into the top 20--and occasionally the top 10--and who first made a name for himself by defeating John McEnroe in the quarterfinals of last year’s Australian Open.

Ferreira beat Russia’s Alexander Volkov in the other semifinal, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and his presence in the final would not be unusual in many ATP Tour stops. But this is one of nine championship series events, which means that most of the top stars of the game compete.

Competing and winning are obviously two different things, however, since Ferreira emerged from a bracket that included Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Stich, Carlos Costa and Guy Forget. Those are, respectively, the Nos. 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 and 11 players in the world. They have won numerous Grand Slam events.

But Ferreira, seeded No. 14 and cheered on in each match by a group of 10 or so family members and friends wearing white “Wayne’s World” T-shirts, managed to make it through the bracket. Perhaps his easiest obstacle was Volkov, the 26-year-old journeyman from Kaliningrad, who has been on the tour since 1987 and has won only one tournament.

The most consistent feature of Volkov’s game seemed to be his ability to successfully execute ill-advised drop shots at key moments that allowed Ferreira to saunter in and put a shot away. When asked about why he tried those, Volkov said he “lost concentration.” When asked why he lost concentration, he said it was because he was “tired because of the conditions.” When asked what the conditions were that made him tired, he said: “It was hot.”

Volkov will earn $65,000 for making it to the semifinals. The losing finalist will earn $123,000. The champion will receive $235,000.

If form prevails, which it has only as far as Courier is concerned, the young star from Florida will add another title to his rapidly growing list.

But it was left to Volkov, a sometimes master of tennis doublespeak, to most interestingly sum up today’s final between baseline-banger Courier and serve-and-volleyer Ferreira.

“I think Wayne has a chance, since they both play the same style,” Volkov said.

Tennis Notes

The doubles final will match the veteran French team of Henri Leconte and Guy Forget against former USC players Luke Jensen and Scott Melville. Jensen and Melville defeated Stefan Kruger-Mark Kiel, 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3. Leconte and Forget won their semifinal Friday. . . . Jim Courier has decided to take a new tack in his quest to win on the grass at Wimbledon. “I haven’t quite figured it out yet,” Courier said. “I’ve always tried to adjust to the grass. This year, I’m going to let the grass adjust to me.”