COURIER ADVANCES, ENDURES FIVE-SETTER.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Living dangerously, working arduously, and claiming not to mind it, Jim Courier James Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr. (born August 17 1970, in Sanford, Florida) is a former world number one professional tennis player from the United States. During his ATP career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. plowed through another five-setter Thursday at the Australian Open
After sneaking into seeded contention by winning a title in the desert at Doha, Qatar, earlier this month, Courier has sneaked into the third round the hard way. ``By land or by sea, I got the job done, and that's the ultimate thing for me,'' Courier said after his latest overtime effort, a 3-hour, 37-minute contest where he got the job done by breaking for a 4-3 lead in the final set and converting his second match point. The 11th-seeded Courier scored a 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against the Czech Republic's Slava Dosedel, another of the tennis tax exiles who accepted the invitation to reside in Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (môNtā` kärlō`), town (1982 pop. 13,150), principality of Monaco, on the Mediterranean Sea and the French Riviera. . Courier toiled through three consecutive five-setters here last year, where Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. downed him in the quarterfinals, but this marks the first time he's needed to survive two marathons merely to reach the third round of a Grand Slam grand slam n. 1. The winning of all the tricks during the play of one hand in bridge and other whist-derived card games. 2. Sports The winning of all the major or specified events, especially on a professional circuit. . Courier, now 12-12 in five-set matches, said his growing familiarity with these torture contests ought not be interpreted as a preference for them. ``I like to dish it out more than I like to take it, and I'd be happier to win in three sets,'' he said, ``but each time I hang in there in these tough matches, I'm doing nothing but helping me in my own mind.'' In the first round, Sjeng Schalken Sjeng Schalken (born September 8, 1976 in Weert) is a former professional tennis player from the Netherlands. A right-handed baseliner with a single-handed backhand, Schalken's game is characterised by his consistency of both wings and his continental technique on both the forced him to 8-6 in the fifth set, and Thursday it was the 67th-ranked Dosedel, a clay-court specialist A clay-court specialist is a tennis player who excels on clay courts, but does not perform to the same standard on hard courts, grass courts, or other surfaces. The term is most frequently applied to professional players on the ATP or WTA tours rather than to average players. who defeated Courier at the 1994 Italian Open, who pushed the former champion to the limit on a chilly, windy court. By contrast, top-seeded Pete Sampras, playing under more protective conditions inside the stadium, overcame a sloppy start against Romania's Adrian Voinea and advanced 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Anke Huber's second-round match against Italy's Francesca Lubiani had to be postponed until Thursday after Huber's mother, Gerda, collapsed in the hallway outside the players' lounge just before her daughter's match Wednesday afternoon. Though a heart attack was suspected initially, tests at a local hospital ruled that out, and Huber, last year's runner-up to the absent Monica Seles, performed on schedule Thursday morning and safely advanced to the third round. |
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