#4 Jim Courier offers to postpone a match for Pete Sampras
Two American champions faced off in a quarterfinal match at the 1995 Australian Open. Defending champion Pete Sampras, who by then had won three of his eventual 14 Grand Slams, had the previous year beaten his compatriot Todd Martin to the title. He was on a high, and had ended the two previous years as the world’s top ranked men’s singles player.
Courier had already won all of his eventual four Grand Slams, and had won the Australian Open two consecutive years – 1992 and 1993. But going up against an utterly dominant Sampras, he may not have fancied his chances.
Sampras was then being coached by American former tennis professional Tim Gullikson, who in his own career had pulled off a singles victory over John McEnroe. Gullikson, who joined Sampras’ coaching team in 1992, truly helped Sampras’ innate sporting ability shine.
It was during his time with Gullikson that Sampras won four Grand Slams and first hit the No. 1 ranking, and their partnership was both immensely fruitful and very warm.
But in 1995, on tour with Sampras, Gullikson suffered a series of massive strokes, initially mis-diagnosed as heart issues. It was later found that Gullikson had inoperable brain cancer, and a stricken, emotional Sampras struggled to process the news. He broke down in the middle of his five-set match against Courier, having to walk away from the net several times.
Courier went up to Sampras and offered to put the match on hold; in a display of true sportsmanship, he said the pair could resume their contest the next day.
Sampras, although struggling to play, would end up declining the offer, and ultimately defeated Courier in a long drawn out encounter. Tragically, Gullikson would pass away a year later.
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