Return of serve
Former world No. 1 tennis player and four-time grand-slam winner Jim Courier held “court” three times on Thursday. He hit balls with Fox 5 sports anchorman Dave Feldman in the morning and was
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the guest of honor at two wine-specific events later in the day: a media lunch at Equinox and a reception for about 400 at the Legg Mason tourney in the evening.
Why wine? Turns out Australian winemaker Wolf Blass is a sponsor of the Outback Champions Tour, in which Courier plays in and is closely involved, so he agreed to be the celebrity draw as the winery promoted its bottlings.
He told Yeas & Nays he played the Legg Mason a lot early in his career, but gave it up because it was “too damn hot.”
He said the demise of American tennis is overstated — it’s simply the case that American men were so dominant in the 1990s, and their recent performance can’t compare. Plus, they have to contend with Swiss No. 1 Roger Federer, whom he called“an athletic genius.”
As for politics, he said most pro tennis players are Republican, if a bit “myopic.”
“They vote their pocketbook,” he said. “They really don’t live anywhere” because they travel so much, so they just vote to keep their taxes low.
“McEnroe, Agassi and me are about the ones who are liberal, or at least socially aware,” he said.
