Andre Agassi And Jim Courier Are Now Friends

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 30th October 2013

Andre Agassi And Jim Courier Are Now Friends

epa03555870 A handout picture provided by Tennis Australia shows legends of tennis posing at a lunch marking the 60th anniversary of Roy Emersons 1953 championship, and their own titles, (L-R) Jim Courier, Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson (holding the Australian open men's singles trophy), Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe, on the sidelines of the Australian Open 2013 in Melbourne, Australia, 26 January 2013. EPA/FIONA HAMILTON / TENNIS AUSTRALIA / HANDOUT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY |

Old junior rivals Andre Agassi and Jim Courier have come a long way from their younger days on the pro tour, when they didn’t even speak.

Both men trained at the Nick Bollettieri Academy and Courier admits that there were times that he was jealous of the attention that Agassi was getting.

Their feud culminated at 1991 Roland Garros, when Courier came back to defeat Agassi in the final. During a rain break, Courier’s coach, Jose Higueras, gave him some keys tips. while Agassi claimed that Bollettieri didn’t advise him of anything specific. That angered Agassi who eventually took on a new coach.

When they were at Bollettieri’s, Agassi was considered to be the more talent player.

“From my perspective, I was fighting for attention down at Bollettieri’s,” Courier told The Oregonian. “I took exception to Nick prioritizing Andre, as he should have done. Now, looking back on it, I totally understand it. That was the right thing for Nick to do. But I didn’t (understand it) when I was in the thick of battle. I used what I thought was a slight from Nick to fuel my fire.”

Courier and Agassi both eventually reached No 1, but Agassi was considered to be a bit more of natural talent and rose up the rankings quicker. By the time they reached the Paris final in 1991, the redhead was right there with him.

“I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in competition with him for major titles,” Courier said. “Certainly when I looked across the net I wanted to beat him more than anything else in my life.”

The 43 year olds never became close while they were on tour, but now they seem to get along quite well.

“I simply was a guy who wasn’t easy to like in my teenage years,” Agassi said. “I felt Jim didn’t like me. I didn’t like myself. My own sensibilities were skewed during those years When you’re on the world stage playing for your dreams, it doesn’t serve you to expose yourself to someone, to let them know what’s really going on.

Both men will play on the PowerShares tour this coming winter.

“Now that we’ve gone on, become full-fledged adults and we’re not in serious competition, we’ve been able to put it in proper perspective,” Courier said. “I’m now closer to Andre than I am to anyone else in my (tennis) generation.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, 1991 Roland Garros, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Nick Bollettieri Academy, Tennis, Tennis News