Sunday a Workday for Winner Courier

Caution is needed when assessing a match played by Jim Courier. Drawing conclusions when he is involved is difficult, because both Courier and your opinion of his play are apt to change abruptly.

Courier’s career has been reconstituted so many times, most of the life had seemed to be squeezed out of it. The former No. 1 player always seems on his way up or down in the rankings. He’s seldom there.

His 6-4, 6-4, defeat of Thomas Enqvist in Sunday’s Infiniti Open final raises as many questions about Courier’s return to form as it answers.

Ranked No. 29, Courier’s victory over the eighth-ranked Swede seems to indicate he’s making progress in a climb back to the position from which he won four Grand Slam tournament titles.

On the other hand, as Courier, 26, pointed out, “One week does not a season make.”

Still, he can savor a week in which he served, volleyed and competed at a level he has not attained for some time.

“It’s nice to show up on a Sunday and not be practicing for the next week’s tournament,” Courier said.

Courier, seeded sixth, had to work for his second title of the year. Along the way, he defeated fourth-seeded Richard Krajicek, top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic and second-seeded Enqvist. The wins against higher-ranked players will boost his confidence, and Courier will gain rankings points for the upsets.

“Beating these guys is definitely a good barometer for me,” he said.

His ranking will probably rise one or two places this week.

Courier is coming off a three-week break after losing in the first round at Wimbledon, and the beginning of the hardcourt season is happy news for him. He has won 74.6% of his hardcourt matches and, as he displayed last week, Courier is capable of adjusting his style to the surface on which he’s playing.

“The ball dictates what you have to do with it,” he said. “If I didn’t play with confidence, chances are, I’m packing my bags early in the week.”

Courier’s early season was nonproductive and conducive only to jet lag. From January to March, he traveled 50,000 miles across five continents. He won in Qatar, then embarked on a schedule that took him to Australia, Brazil, back to the Middle East in Dubai, Belgium, Philadelphia, home to Florida, then to Indian Wells, where he lost in the first round.

Courier’s unstinting devotion to Davis Cup was the reason for the awkward routing from the South Pacific to South America.

He asserted himself from the start of Sunday’s match on a breezy day at the L.A. Tennis Center at UCLA. Both players play aggressively from the baseline and, after practicing with Enqvist at Laguna Beach a week before the tournament Courier developed a game plan.

“Against Thomas, it’s kind of hit or be hit,” Courier said.

Courier broke in the third game of the first set, aided by a double fault from the usually efficient Enqvist. The Swede drew even, 3-3, when he broke Courier’s serve, but Courier broke back in the next game when Enqvist double-faulted on break point.

Courier broke to open the second set and again Enqvist broke back, this time at 2-2. The two continued to slug it out from the baseline, interrupted only by Courier’s forays to the net.

Enqvist’s unforced errors finally did him in.

Courier broke for the final time to go up, 5-4, then served out the match in the next game.

From his own ups and downs Courier has learned patience and some reserve regarding matches like Sunday’s. A win is nice, but it comes in context.

“I’ve got three more tournaments to come, right in a row,” he said. “I can’t let up for a minute, not at all.”

For Enqvist, Los Angeles has become something less than a haven. His impressive 11-2 record in finals is marred by two losses here.

“I’ll be back,” he said.

* NEW LOOK: Martina Hingis makes her Southern California debut this week at La Costa. C10

* SHE’S HOT: Martina Hingis wins at Palo Alto. C10