Courier Looks for More Good Bounces in Final : Wimbledon: Lack of rain makes it his kind of court, but Sampras has had the edge in their previous matches.

In the two biggest upsets at Wimbledon, it hasn’t rained a drop and Jim Courier is in today’s men’s singles final.

Actually, the weather is part of the reason why Courier is going after Pete Sampras and still in the hunt for the biggest prize in tennis, which is usually decided on grass made slippery soft by the occasional rain that is both famous and expected at Wimbledon. This is where they sell umbrellas at the concession stands.

But it hasn’t happened this year, not one cloudburst, which has sort of transformed the Centre Court surface into something Courier finds much more to his liking--cement.

On normal grass, the ball bounces low and a player such as Courier has trouble hitting it early. But on these hard, grass courts, the ball bounces higher and Courier can take his standard whack at the ball.

“Well, I think the weather has been to the favor of someone like myself who likes the ball to bounce a little higher,” Courier said.

Sampras feels at home on a hard court but also realizes Courier’s chances are a lot better now than on slick grass.

“With no rain, the court is playing very hard,” Sampras said. “For someone like Courier, I think that’s good for him.

“It’s a good court to return on, obviously. In the middle of the court, there’s basically no grass, it’s just hard ground and it’s tough to pass.”

At stake is not only the Wimbledon title, which will be the first for either Courier or Sampras, but also the No. 1 ranking. It’s simple: the winner is No. 1

If there is an edge, Sampras may have it. Sampras is 7-2 against Courier, has won each of the three times they met in finals and is 6-1 against Courier on hard courts.

Courier is in his seventh Grand Slam final and has four major titles, the 1992 and 1993 Australian Open and the 1991 and 1992 French Open. Sampras is 1-1 in Grand Slam finals, winning the 1990 U.S. Open and losing last year’s U.S. Open final to Stefan Edberg.

Because of Courier’s superior Grand Slam record, Sampras has been on the defensive when answering questions about whether he deserves the No. 1 ranking, so he now has the opportunity to settle that issue on the court and win Wimbledon besides.

“I’m one match away,” he said. “I’m going to give it my best shot.”

Boris Becker, who lost to Sampras in the semifinals, said Sampras might be nervous. “He has never won here, he hasn’t won a Grand Slam in a couple of years, even though he is the No. 1 player in the world right now, but he is keeping his cool.

“If he is keeping his head the way he has been in the past few weeks, if he’s serving that way like he did (against me), he has a very good chance of winning.”

Wimbledon Notes

Pete Sampras said his shoulder feels good and he does not expect it to give him any more trouble. . . . If Jim Courier wins the final, he takes back the No. 1 ranking by four computer points (4,024-4,020). . . . The first American to win Wimbledon was Bill Tilden in 1920. A total of 20 different U.S. men have won 26 Wimbledon titles. Only two have won more than twice, Tilden in 1920, 1921 and 1930 and John McEnroe in 1981, 1983 and 1984. . . . The last time the top two ranked players met in the Wimbledon final, McEnroe defeated top-ranked Bjorn Borg in 1981 and took over the No. 1 ranking. . . . The last time the No. 1-seeded player won Wimbledon was in the 1984 final when McEnroe defeated Jimmy Connors in straight sets.

Jana Novotna, who earlier in the day lost to Steffi Graf in the women’s singles final, also lost a close contest in doubles. Top-seeded Gigi Fernandez and Natalia Zvereva won their sixth consecutive Grand Slam doubles championship with a 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 victory over second-seeded Novotna and Larisa Neiland. . . . In the men’s doubles final, top-seeded Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde of Australia defeated Grant Connell and Patrick Galbraith, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).