Courier was raised in Dade City, Florida,[3] and though he excelled at youth sports in general, after a certain point it became clear that tennis was where his true talent lay.

At the US Open he defeated defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals and then Jimmy Connors in the semifinals, before losing the final to Edberg.

He then followed this result by defeating future Grand Slam champions Thomas Muster, Goran Ivanišević, Agassi and Petr Korda to successfully defend his French Open title.

In 1992 he was the top-seeded player at the Olympics in Barcelona, where he lost in the third round to eventual gold medalist Marc Rosset from Switzerland.

[6] In 1993, Courier again won the Australian Open, defeating Edberg in the final for the second consecutive year, and jumped into the Yarra a second time, but it was to be his last such celebration after contracting a stomach bug from the muddy and polluted river.

Courier also became the first player since Rod Laver to reach the finals of the Australian, French and Wimbledon in the same season; the feat was not matched until 2006 by Roger Federer.

He reached the finals of all four major championships during his career, a feat accomplished by only seven other male players in the Open Era.

Courier returned to the tour at the 2005 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships when he received a wildcard into the doubles draw partnering Andre Agassi.

Courier calls many centre court men's singles matches for the network and often conducts the post-match on-court interviews with the winning player.

He also founded Courier's Kids, a non-profit organization that supports tennis programs in the inner city of St. Petersburg, Florida.

On October 27, 2010, Courier was named captain of the United States Davis Cup team, replacing Patrick McEnroe.