Competitive Cojones: Comparing Corretja, Courier, Chesnokov, and Coria

In a recent article, an argument was presented for Tennis's top five "competitors".

And in response, a comment appeared stating that Rafael Nadal should not be rated higher than Pete Sampras because Rafa has not yet pulled off a "Corretja," or a "Courier". Another comment mentioned that Roger Federer was missing from this list. 

I would like to examine the Corretja or Courier comment in greater depth, and look at Sampras more closely. I will look at Sampras vs. Corretja; vs. Courier; vs. Chesnokov; and then at Nadal vs. Coria.

Though I will not attempt to suggest a re-ordering of Mr. York’s list—I will leave that for the comment section, if any—I will attempt to set the stage for why Sampras, though normally low-key and a player who would forgo the exuberant fist pumps and "Come-ons!" of more demonstrable competitors, still finds his way onto Mr. York’s list at the expense of some other familiar tennis names (Federer, for example).

Competitive Fire

What is competitive fire?  What is it that makes us love and honor the greatest competitors?  Because somehow tennis is a microcosm of the things that make our lives function: courage, tenacity, focus and drive, compressed into two-to-four hours of time.

We all require these things to live and move ahead. But we usually exercise them over a longer period of time, often months or years and especially in adversity.

On the tennis court, there are players and moments which show us a truth about  themselves and thus ourselves, that helps us connect with these fundamental, visceral, and primitive components of life, especially in adversity.

AntiMatter, a writer here at B/R, once wrote a piece in which he said, "I have to battle. I have, but one aim in my life - to overcome myself. I have to try to be the best I can. But I do not have a  measurable entity or a metric that will tell me whether I am doing the best - that I am living the limit. "

That is the essence of the competitor's fire, to be at the "limit", to overcome oneself and to utilize mental strength rather than solely the physical to achieve the victory.  It tells us something about the human condition.

I'm not going to suggest or put words in Mr. York's mouth, but for me, adversity is a necessary component of finding this "limit" and exhibiting this "fire".

Though I don’t expect to talk about it in this article, in his final Wimbledon championship against Rafter in 2000, Sampras had shin splints. He took a cortisone shot to stay in the tournament but it wore off in a classic Wimbledon rain delay, and Pete couldn’t have another one. Yet he toughed it out to achieve his 13th Grand Slam title and showed his competitive fire.


Corretja

Let’s look at a historic match: Sampras vs Alex Corretja, (7-6, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6) U.S. Open, Quarterfinal 1996.

Alex Corretja, from Spain, was ranked as high as world No. 2 in 1999, and was a key player in obtaining a first ever Davis Cup for Spain in 2000. In the 1996 USO QF, Sampras was anemic and dehydrated through five sets, facing match point in the 5th set before taking it to a tie-break.  

At 1-1 in the tie-break Sampras vomited on court, drawing a delay of game warning. He continued with partial heaves throughout the tie-break, clearly struggling physically. He went on to win this match, in quintessential Sampras style, with second-serve aces, etc.

It is often said that the fifth set is about heart and this fifth set tie-break is a classic example of where a champion digs to come up with a victory.

10 minutes of that final set tie-breaker are available on YouTube.  In part one, the first 30 seconds, the stakes are nicely set up by John McEnroe.  Look for standing ovations from the crowd as Sampras struggles to pull this out, and his courage is on the line. There's also a part 2.


Courier

Sampras vs Jim Courier, (6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3) Australian Open QF, 1995 is another classic.

Sampras’ long-time coach Tim Gullikson, who had trained him as a boy and was with him since he had left Peter Fischer, had collapsed earlier in the tournament and was flown home to the U.S. for diagnosis. Sampras and his team would learn that Gullikson had a brain tumor, to which he would succumb later in the year. 

Sampras did not yield to the emotional shock of knowing that his friend, coach, and mentor was struggling for his life until, in the beginning of the fifth set, some fan yelled out, "Do it for your coach, Pete," at which point the tears started to flow.  

Sampras broke down in tears during the change-over at 1-0 in the fifth set and struggled to compose himself through several games.  It is tough to watch, and wonderful at the same time. (Compare with Roger Federer’s tears at the 2009 AO).

The audience, and commentators, became aware of Sampras’ distress, and the reason for it, as can be heard here.

Even Sampras’ opponent, Jim Courier, was sympathetic and cognizant of Sampras’ distress. He made a joking remark from across the net, "We can do this tomorrow, you know" in an attempt to pull Pete out of it. It evidently was successful, because Pete got it together and went on to win the match.

Pete would talk about it briefly in this commercial from that era (a great ad with Agassi and Sampras talking about "things").  The whole commercial is 30 seconds, but look for the 15-second spot, where Sampras talks about his most emotional moment. 


Chesnokov

Sampras vs Andrei Chesnokov (3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4) Davis Cup Final 1995.

The Davis Cup finals in 1995 represented the last time the U.S. would win the Cup until 2007. The team was not the dream team of 1992 (which fielded Agassi, Courier, Sampras, and McEnroe), but still fielded Sampras, Courier, and Martin.

In the first tie, Sampras started cramping in the fifth set (dehydration, as with the Corretja match already outlined).  After a 25-stroke match point, Sampras collapsed and was literally dragged off court by his teammates!

In this video, Sampras is shown before the match (avant), and after the match (apres) being carried off the court totally incapacitated with cramps.  As they say (in French): extraordinaire.


Coria

Rafel Nadal vs Guillermo Coria (6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6) Rome Master’s Final 2005.

Like many players, Rafael Nadal has overcome fatigue and injury to achieve a victory. But for me a quintessential example of his living in the "limit" came in 2005 when he was just 18-years old, playing an established clay court master in Guillermo Coria.

Clay is a surface of patience and attrition. This incredible, hard-hitting match started out in brilliant sunshine, and as afternoon turned to night, the match was finished under the floodlights.

Rafa already complained of being mentally and physically tired after winning 17 matches in 27 days and defeating David Ferrer to get to the final.  He would go into the match with a blistered index finger on his racket hand.

Sets 1, 2, 3:  (10 minutes of hard-hitting clay court tennis from two masters, in sunshine)  Just the set-up for the classic fifth set tie-break which went on for about 35 minutes. At the end of this 10-minute piece, Rafa would summon the trainer and get his racket hand bandaged. That’s when the drama truly began, as Rafa battled injury and fatigue to pull this match out.

Reports from the time stated that when Rafa edged the opening set, it was hard to tell if he would be able to sustain the effort (The Independent, May 2005).  Coria was the master, exhibiting great court speed, acumen, and shot selection. (Looking at the video again it’s wonderful to see this great clay-court master at work here, and a shame that Coria’s career came to such in inglorious end).

The tie-break would include four match points for Rafa and three match points for Coria, lasted 35 minutes, and ended with a score of 8-6.


Courage

The Corretja, Courier, Chesnokov, and Coria matches are all compelling examples of competition at its finest. Where the human spirit is shown to be on fire, it's charismatically set to overcome challenges posed by championship contests.

After reviewing some of these matches, I can see why Mr. York selected some of the champions for his list the way he did.