Boetsch, Frustration Knock Courier Out in Quarterfinals

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. —  In the end, Jim Courier lost it.

When his final shot fell at the net, Courier picked up the ball and belted it into the upper deck, punctuating his long, hot, frustrating afternoon.

Courier knew he blew too many big points Wednesday in a 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-5 quarterfinal loss to Arnaud Boetsch at the Lipton Championships.

“Put it in perspective?” Courier said. “There’s life, and there’s tennis. There’s your perspective. Don’t dig too much for the story. It’s right there.”

Sixth-seeded Chanda Rubin advanced to the women’s semifinals by beating No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Rubin’s opponent tonight will be unseeded Karina Habsudova of Slovakia, who beat No. 16 Irina Spirlea 6-4, 7-5.

Boetsch became the first Frenchman to reach the Lipton semifinals since Yannick Noah in 1989. On Friday, he’ll play No. 3 Andre Agassi, who beat unseeded Michael Joyce, 6-4, 6-1.

“I was a little bit lucky,” said Boetsch, ranked 17th. “He got a bit mad at that, especially at the end.”

Courier converted only four of 20 break-point chances, compared with Boetsch’s three for three. Courier squandered a set point in the first set when he hit a forehand wide, and also wasted a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker, losing the final four points on unforced errors.

As Courier’s frustration grew in the third set, his face reddened with anger.

Boetsch broke for a 6-5 lead in thanks to consecutive errant ground strokes by Courier. On match point, after two hours and 41 minutes of tennis, Boetsch hit a deep cross-court forehand that Courier returned into the net.

Boetsch, who turns 27 Monday, enjoyed his best year in 1995 and finished as France’s No. 1 player for the first time. He started this year 1-4 but made a breakthrough at Lipton by beating MaliVai Washington and Stefan Edberg. He had been 0-4 against Washington and 0-10 vs. Edberg.

Rubin, seeking her first WTA Tour title, outlasted Sabatini in 2 1/2 hours. The 20-year-old squandered three match points in the second set and two more in the final set before closing out the victory.

Top-seeded Steffi Graf will play No. 8 Lindsay Davenport in the other semifinal match.