Courier wins Legends ‘Rock’

Jim Courier celebrated winning the Outback Champions Series by clinching the Legends “Rock'' Dubai at the Aviation Club on Saturday night. Having already been assured of finishing the series on top, the American subdued Stefan Edberg 6-3, 6-4 to win the title.

It was Courier's serve that did the damage as he managed to keep the Swede from advancing to the net most of the time. He never let Edberg get into the kind of rhythm that the Swede did in his first match against Wayne Ferreira and although the six-time Grand Slam winner broke the Courier serve in the second set to draw level at 4-4, the American was too good in the end.

After the match Courier said: “It was a very tough match, because Stefan [Edberg] always kept the pressure on, I knew I had to serve very well, which I think I did. I had to move Stefan around and not let him come to the net, because as we know he is deadly at the net. I am happy to win in Dubai, this is a fantastic tournament, it is a great finish to the Outback Champions Series tour. We all enjoy being here.''

Edberg admitted he had been beaten by the better player: “Jim played very well today, he played some fantastic passing shots, he was better than me today, but I hope there will be a next time,'' he said.

Earlier in the day, Paul Haarhuis defeated Anders Jarryd 8-5 in the match for third and fourth place. The match was shortened to one set up to 8 games format due to Jarryd's injury.

In the doubles final, the pairing of Mansour Bahrami and Haarhuis defeated John Fitzgerald and Ferreira 8-7(12-10) in the super tie-break.