Courier Joins USA Network Announce Team

Market Wire, 20050229

Four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier joins the USA Network announce team for the 2002 US Open Tennis Championships. Courier, who spent 12 years on the ATP Tour, joins Hall-of-Famers John McEnroe and Tracy Austin as the third analyst in the USA Network broadcast booth. Courier will offer another former champion and No. 1 ranked player's insight to USA Sports live coverage of one of professional tennis' most storied titles.

"The addition of Jim Courier to our broadcast team, along with John McEnroe and Tracy Austin, continues to raise the stature of USA Network's tennis coverage as the best on TV," said USA Sports Senior Vice President and Executive Producer, Gordon Beck. "Jim is a candid and opinionated former champion who knows what it takes to win a Grand Slam title, as well as be a No. 1 ranked player."

Courier won 23 career titles including four Grand Slam championships and reached the No. 1 ranking in 1991 after winning his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. He ended the 1992 season at No. 1 after winning that year's Australian Open and French Open. Courier won his fourth and final Grand Slam at the 1993 Austalian Open. He also was a finalist at the 1991 US Open and 1993 Wimbledon Championships.

Courier was a member of the 1992 Davis Cup-winning United States team and holds the distinction of being the only American since Davis Cup competition began in 1900 to win five-set, fifth and decisive matches, twice. He played through 1999 and officially retired in 2001 with an overall 351-129 singles record.

Courier began his television career in 2001 as an analyst during TNT and CNN/Sports Illustrated's coverage of the Wimbledon Championships.

USA Sports' live coverage of the 2002 US Open Tennis Championships on USA Network begins Monday, Aug. 26 from the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Television's most comprehensive live weekday (11 AM-4 PM) and weeknight coverage (7-11 PM) of the men's and women's final tennis grand slam event of the year boasts 92 hours of scheduled action.

USA Network is cable television's leading provider of original series and feature movies, sports events, off-net television shows and blockbuster theatrical films. USA Network is available in 82% of all U.S. homes, and is seen in 86 million U.S. homes. The USA Network Web site is located at www.usanetwork.com.

USA Network is a program service of Universal Television (www.universalstudios.com), a division of Vivendi UNIVERSAL Entertainment (VUE), the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications group.