Courier Has Become A Really Laid-Back Dude

Jim Courier, who seems to have grown his hair long to let it down, unveiled a new, no-worry attitude Monday that he hopes will bring him a third Australian Open title.

Gone for the moment, along with his crew cut, is the surly demeanor that weighed him down as he drifted from No. 1 to No. 13 by the end of last year.

In its place are curly, strawberry red locks, an easy smile and the sense that nice guys can finish first.

“I hit the wall in the summer, and hopefully that won’t happen again,” Courier said early today after beating David Rikl 6-4, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) to start his quest of the Australian title he captured in 1992 and 1993.

“Hopefully, I’m going to pace myself a little bit better. It’s a game, and it should never feel like something other than that.”

There were times, Courier said, when he put too much pressure on himself, overtraining, feeling guilty when he took a few days off, getting sick of the game. He often did well in the first half of the year, “then kind of slid down the hill in the second half of the season.”

He had gone 17 months without winning a title until he claimed the Australian Hardcourt Championship in Adelaide two weeks ago and boosted his ranking to No. 9.

“I think I just have beaten my head into the ground so much … trying to keep going and keep going, that I tire myself out,” he said. “I have to go to the beach more often. Unfortunately, I don’t get tanned, but I have to go anyway.”

The trick is to enjoy the game even when he isn’t winning.

“I always, deep down, love the game, but I think there is always a fluctuation,” he said. “It’s always a lot more fun when you are winning. It’s human nature. It’s certainly my nature. But I also enjoy the fight.

“I’m trying to get back up the mountain. It’s a lot more fun going up the mountain than trying to stay on top of it.”

Pete Sampras is on top of the mountain and quite comfortable there. The defending champion and No. 1 seed toyed with Gianluca Pozzi in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 victory that took just 73 minutes.

No. 5 Michael Chang got off to a rockier start in a 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Paul Kilderry, a wild-card entrant who is ranked 187. No. 7 Michael Stich, who lost in the first round in Australia last year, had an easy time beating Jeff Tarango 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Stich served 16 aces and said he was feeling the benefits of a six-week break.

No. 4 Mary Pierce started out with a double fault, but her troubles ended there as she went on to a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Tina Krizan.

Martina Hingis, the 14-year-old from Switzerland, won her first match in a Grand Slam tournament, beating Jolene Watanabe 6-0, 7-6 (7-2). Hingis won the first set in just 19 minutes, yielding only 11 points.

Fearing the negative publicity surrounding Jim Pierce, Joseph Romulus Weingartner fired him as tennis coach of his daughter Marlene and returned to Germany on Saturday. “What happened is that I realized Mr. Pierce is really restricted to travel to WTA tournaments,” said Weingartner.