BASEL — On October 8, 1989, 19-year-old Jim Courier claimed his maiden ATP title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland, upsetting world No. 3 Stefan Edberg 7-6, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-5 in the final at the Halle Saint-Jacques, the 9,000-capacity indoor venue.
The five-set battle was the first meeting between the future rivals, who would later contest three major finals. Edberg, the 1988 Wimbledon champion, led two sets to one on the fast indoor surface that favored his serve-and-volley game, but Courier responded with flawless tennis in the fourth, blasting passing shots to win 6-0 before closing out the decider 7-5 to win his first tour final. "This was by far my best tennis," Courier said. "I took advantage of the fact that Stefan could have played better."
Courier, ranked No. 35 and in only his second year on the main tour, entered Basel with his best result a fourth-round run at Roland-Garros after beating world No. 5 Andre Agassi 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Born in 1970 and developed at Nick Bollettieri's academy, the American was known for western grips, short baseball-like backswings, a trademark cap, a big serve and inside-out forehand. Edberg, born in 1966, had completed the junior Grand Slam in 1983 and already owned three major titles, including the Australian Open in December 1985 over Mats Wilander 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and again in January 1987 over Pat Cash 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, plus Wimbledon in 1988 over Boris Becker 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The Swede arrived in Basel after a difficult 1989 season in which he lost the Roland-Garros final to Michael Chang 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and the Wimbledon final to Becker 6-0, 7-6, 6-4, with his only title that year coming in Tokyo over Ivan Lendl 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The Swiss Indoors, established in 1970 and part of the Grand Prix Circuit since 1977 when Bjorn Borg won, had been won by Ivan Lendl in 1980 and 1981, Yannick Noah in 1982 and 1987, and Edberg in 1985, 1986 and 1988.
The Basel final was only Courier's second win over a top-10 opponent, but it foreshadowed a rapid rise. He would win four Grand Slam titles in less than two years — the French Open in 1991 and 1992 and the Australian Open in 1992 and 1993 — and reach world No. 1 at the start of 1992, spending 58 weeks atop the ATP rankings during a career that included 23 titles. Edberg reclaimed Wimbledon in 1990 and became world No. 1 weeks later, then beat Courier 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in the 1991 US Open final before Courier answered with Australian Open final wins in 1992 (6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2) and 1993 (6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5) to lead their head-to-head 6-4 across 10 meetings.