VERONA, N.Y., May 2 – Jim Courier not only beat John McEnroe in a tennis match Saturday night, but “tweeted” about it as well.

Using the social network “Twitter” to update fans and followers via his blackberry on changeovers, Courier beat McEnroe 6-3, 4-6, (10-4 in Champions Tie-breaker) in a special “Legendary Night Exhibition” at the Turning Stone Resort in Central New York.

“Posting was a fun exercise,” said Courier, who can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jimcourier. “It forced me to evaluate what was happening in real time although it also made me realize my thumbs are slow for typing. Hopefully it gives some insight into the mind of a tennis player in the heat of battle. I am looking forward to checking out the transcript and seeing if I actually made any sense or was just babbling.”

Jim Courier Twitters

Courier is believed to be the first professional tennis player to use Twitter or any social networking device while competing in a professional match. The use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are forbidden in the rules of tennis as it opens up the possibility of illegal coaching. Courier’s match with McEnroe Saturday was not an officially sanctioned match or part of the Outback Champion Series global tennis circuit where Courier and McEnroe now compete. Courier frequently uses Twitter to connect with fans, comment on current issues in professional tennis and discuss behind-the-scenes details of the Outback Champions Series.

“Mac 2-1 on serve. Ball’s moving fast w/ppl in bldg. Feel good so far,” was Courier’s first in-match “tweet” during a changeover as McEnroe took a 2-1 lead.

Courier broke McEnroe’s serve in the fifth game of the match, tweeting of McEnroe double-fault on break point and of having to be aggressive on his forehand, “Got the break 3-2. Mac df on bp. I need to stay down and go after fh more. Covering it too much. Stay slow on 1st serve. Rushing a bit.”

Four games later, Courier broke McEnroe again to close out the first set 6-3, documenting McEnroe’s anger in breaking a racquet by tweeting, “6-3 JC. Mini McFreak. Broke a stick. Some shaky calls out here. I start serve 2nd set. Feeling better now. Got to keep driving the ball.”

Later in the second set, after taking a 2-1 lead, Courier, then tweeted, “2-1 JC on serve. Keep aggressive on his serve works well. Almost broke 2nd game. He’s edgy”

Two games later, taking a 3-2 lead, Courier wrote, “3-2. Tight service game. Was down bp. Served out of it. Rushed that game 2 dbl flts. Relax!!!”

McEnroe broke Courier in the seventh game of the second set, benefitting from Courier missing an easy forehand on break point. On the changeover, Courier wrote, “Gagged a fh sitter to lose serve 4-3 mac. Gotta refocus. Loose game there” Then two games later, Courier typed, “4-5. Gotta break. Stay down and rip returns. No cute shots.”

McEnroe served out the set the next game – forcing a first-to-ten points “Champions Tie-Breaker” played in lieu of a third set. Courier cruised to win the tie-breaker 10-4, winning eight of the last 10 points of the match.

Courier’s final tweets concluded, “10-4 in the breaker my way…served huge and ripped some passing shots. Felt good to finish big. I hit a rick-donk-u-lous slice angle pass to go up 2 minibreaks off of a sick mac approach. Yee haw.”

Following the singles match, Courier continued to document the evening of highly-entertaining tennis as he and Tracy Austin were defeated by McEnroe and Anna Kournikova 6-4, 2-6, (10-4 Champions Tie-Breaker) in mixed doubles.

The line of the evening may have come from McEnroe, who while serving at set point at 5-4 in the mixed doubles, yelled to Courier on the other side of the net, “Do you want to twitter before I serve?” Courier smiled and McEnroe then fired an ace up the middle by Courier to close out the first set.

Jim Courier twitters during the match

The Legendary Night was run by the Turning Stone Resort in conjunction with InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, the New York-based sports marketing company co-founded by Courier that also runs the Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over.

Courier is one of 15 men in the history of tennis to play in all four Grand Slam tournament finals. He won two French Open singles titles (1991 and 1992) and two Australian Open titles (1992 and 1993) and was a Wimbledon finalist in 1993 and a US Open finalist in 1991. Courier finished the 1992 season as the world No. 1 ranked player and won 29 career titles (23 singles titles, 6 doubles). He also helped the United States win the Davis Cup in 1992 and 1995. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

Home to the PGA TOUR’s Turning Stone Resort Championship, the Turning Stone Resort delivers AAA Four Diamond award-winning accommodations, world-class gaming and entertainment, five challenging golf courses, a private dance club and a world-class spa. The Turning Stone Resort is located 35 miles south of Syracuse and just a four hour drive from New York City. More information can be found at www.turningstone.com.

InsideOut Sports + Entertainment is a New York City-based independent producer of proprietary events and promotions founded in 2004 by former world No. 1 and Hall of Fame tennis player Jim Courier and former SFX and Clear Channel executive Jon Venison. In 2005, InsideOut launched its signature property, the Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including “Legendary Night” exhibitions, charity events and tennis fantasy camps such as the annual “Ultimate Fantasy Camp”. Through 2008, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment events have raised over $4 million for charity. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutSE.com or www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.