Courier was through to his fourth career Grand Slam semifinal. He knew what it took to push through that barrier, having won his previous three matches at that stage. In the semis, though, he faced what could be considered his biggest challenge, Agassi. This had the potential to surpass their prior encounters, as it was a hungry and motivated Agassi that loomed across the net. Agassi went into a funk after his French Open final defeat in ’91—culminating in a first-round defeat at the U.S. Open—but he righted the ship in ’92 and had been storming through the French Open himself.
As great as he’d been playing over the course of the two weeks, Courier was performing at an even higher level, and he won his fifth match of the tournament in straight sets.
Waiting for Courier in the final was the seventh seed, Petr Korda, who took full advantage of the multiple upsets in the bottom half of the draw. In fact, Korda didn’t have to face a seeded player on his way to the championship match.
While the Czech’s reputation as one of the game’s premier shot-makers was well deserved, he was no match for Courier. After a closely contested first set, the defending champion breezed through the next two to clinch his third Grand Slam title and second in a row.
Courier delivered his victory speech in French, much to the delight of the crowd. It was nearly as impressive a feat as his title-winning run. The final six players that Courier beat at Roland Garros would have careers filled with memorable moments:
• Muster: In 1995, Muster won the French Open and would go on to reach No. 1 in the world.
• Mancini: As noted, Mancini won the two biggest tournaments on clay outside of the French Open in 1989. He also reached the final in Rome in 1991.
• Medvedev: After the French Open, the teenager won his next two tournaments. He’d get as high as No. 4 in the world and lost a memorable French Open final to Agassi in 1999.
• Ivanisevic: The biggest server in the game reached his first Grand Slam final just weeks after this French Open, at Wimbledon. In a heartbreaker, he lost the final in five sets to Agassi. After years of failing to win a major, despite reaching No. 2 in the world at one point, Ivanisevic finally captured one of the sport's biggest prizes in 2001. That year, he shockingly won Wimbledon as a wild card.
• Agassi: The American rebounded from his French Open loss with his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. He’d go on to have one of the game’s finest careers, and eventually won his first French Open title in 1999 to complete the career Grand Slam.
• Korda: It wouldn’t be until near the end of the decade before Korda reached another Grand Slam final. He made that appearance count, though, winning the Australian Open in 1998 over Marcelo Rios.
Between them, the six won 32 Masters 1000 titles and 11 Grand Slams over the course of their careers. All of them spent significant time in the Top 10, as well.
Yet for all they achieved, they were nothing more than minor obstacles in Courier’s path to Grand Slam glory in one of the most impressive performances in French Open history.