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For the second straight year, a top player had to default out of the Oliver Group Champions Cup because of an injury.

Unfortunately, Jim Courier had to withdraw because of a back injury after losing three straight game to Pat Cash late in the first set on Saturday afternoon.

Fortunately, Courier's injury isn't likely as severe as the one to Michael Chang, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury on the next-to-last day in the inaugural Naples tournament last year at The Players Club and Spa at Lely Resort.

Courier, the defending champion and 2006 season-long points winner on the Outback Champions Series, was ahead 5-2 and said he felt "a good stick'' when he went back to play a ball Cash had hit behind him.

"I didn't do it on a shot,'' Courier said. "I did it on a movement. It was 5-2, Pat was serving at 0-15, I hit a return and

he came in and he hit a volley back behind me.

"I just took kind of one hard step to it, nothing unusual, nothing sudden. But I felt a good stick in my low back, and then I was in trouble from that point on. It progressed downhill pretty quickly.''

The result will be a championship match on Sunday afternoon between Aaron Krickstein and Wayne Ferreira, who beat Petr Korda 6-2, 6-4 earlier Saturday.

Because Courier defaulted, he's not eligible to play the rest of the tournament even if he was physically able. So even though Courier, Ferreira and Cash are all 2-1 in their group, it essentially comes down to Ferreira and Cash. And since Ferreira beat Cash on Friday afternoon, he gets the spot in the title match and Cash will be in the third-place match.

Krickstein, who will play Jimmy Arias later tonight at 6:30, already is 2-0 in his group.

Mats Wilander and John McEnroe will play in the finale tonight, and one of them will be 2-1. But even if Krickstein loses, he'll own the tiebreaker against Wilander or McEnroe because he's already beaten both of them. The Wilander-McEnroe winner will play for third place on Sunday, starting at 1:30 p.m. The title match follows.

For tickets, call 877-332-8499, go to championsseriestennis.com or buy them on-site at Lely Resort. Tickets start at $15.

After Courier injured himself, Cash won the game to get within 5-3, and Courier later had the trainer come out to provide some treatment. Courier tried to continue, but after Cash won the next two games, that was it.

"I hurt this in Boston last year, but it wasn't nearly as severe,'' Courier said. "I tweaked it playing against Goran Ivanisevic, but I was able to finish and win that match.

"Today, for whatever reason, it was more severe. As I said, it deteriorated pretty quickly. I knew within a point or two that I needed to just try to play quicker points, not grind as much and hope that it would just hang on, which is what I'd done against Goran, but it just wasn't going to allow me to do that.

"I got some treatment, but that didn't offer any relief. I tried to play one more game, but I was going to put myself at more risk if I continued to play.''

Said Cash: "It's unfortunate. You don't like to win that way, but there you go. Just the main thing is that he's OK and that he's not out too long.

"That's sport. The older you get, these things just happen.''

Courier, the co-founder of InsideOut Sports Entertainment that runs the series, was disappointed for himself.

"I had the match in control,'' he said. "I was enjoying the tennis. I was playing quite well. To have it snatched away from you because your body betrays you is tougher to take than if Pat had played some beautiful tennis and snatched it from me naturally.''

"Jim was hitting it harder than anybody I remember on the circuit,'' Cash said. "I was hitting fantastic shots and he was

just thumping them. I had to try and pick it up a little bit, try to mix it up. That's when I realized the harder I hit the ball, the harder it came back. I had to change my tactics, try to slow it down a little bit.''

Courier was even more disappointed for the crowd on the sunny afternoon.

"I feel the worse for the fans,'' he said. "We were just getting into the rhythm of the match and quickly that session's over. I feel bad for them but fortunately they got to see a match in front of me. ... I'm disappointed on a lot of levels, sure.''

In the earlier match on Saturday, Ferreira struggled a bit with Korda, who is just working himself back into shape after taking off much of 2006.

Ferreira wasn't in the original field and neither was Cash. Now both are playing in final matches on Sunday. They replaced Todd Martin (ankle injury) and Emilio Sanchez (flu).

"I wasn't going to do anything,'' Ferreira said of his plans before receiving a call from InsideOut Sports Entertainment's Jon Venison. "Jon called me in the middle of last week and asked me if I'd be available to do it.

"I'd like to play in more and play as much as I can.''

Korda decided that earlier this year. Now he hopes he can get to the point where he can be more competitive. He went 0-3 and didn't win a set here.

"At least it shows me what I need to do, what I need to get better,'' Korda said.

"I know deep inside me I can produce better tennis,'' he added. "I can play better than I did here.''