Jimmy Connors
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James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP) for 268 weeks ( fifth-most of all time), and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. By virtue of his long and prolific career, Connors still holds three prominent Open Era men's singles records: 109 titles, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. His titles include eight singles
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
s (an
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joint-record five US Opens, two
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
s, one
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
) and three year-end championships. In 1974, he became the second man in the Open Era to win three major titles in a calendar year, and was not permitted to participate in the fourth, the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. He retired in 1996 at the age of 43.


Career


Early years

Connors grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, just across the
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from
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, and was raised
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. During his childhood he was coached and trained by his mother and grandmother. He played in his first U.S. Championship, the U.S. boys' 11-and-under of 1961, when he was nine years old. Connors's mother, Gloria, took him to Southern California to be coached by Pancho Segura, starting at age 16, in 1968. But she remained part of the team as his coach and manager. He and his brother, John "Johnny" Connors, attended St. Phillip's grade school. Connors won the Junior Orange Bowl in both the 12- and the 14-year categories, and is one of nine tennis players to win the Junior Orange Bowl championship twice in its 70-year history.


Early career (1970–1973)

In August 1970, Connors recorded his first match win in the first round of the Haverford tournament, beating Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau. In his first US Open, Connors lost in round one to Mark Cox. At Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, he defeated Roy Emerson before losing to Clark Graebner in the last 16, where he was described by the Los Angeles Times as the "Cinderfella of tennis" and "the kid with a magic wand for a backhand". In 1971, Connors won the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
singles title as a Freshman while attending
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
and attained All-American status. He reached his first ATP Tour finals at Columbus (losing to Tom Gorman) and Los Angeles (beating newly-crowned US Open champion Stan Smith before losing to 43 year old Pancho Gonzales). Connors turned professional in 1972 and won his first tournament, the Jacksonville Open, quickly followed by his second at Roanoke, third at Queen's Club, fourth at Columbus, fifth at Cincinnati and sixth at Albany. Connors was acquiring a reputation as a maverick in 1972 when he refused to join the newly formed
Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP), the union that was embraced by most male professional players, in order to play in and dominate a series of smaller tournaments organized by Bill Riordan, his manager. However, Connors played in other tournaments and won the 1973 U.S. Pro Singles, defeating
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...
in a five-set final, one of 11 tournaments Connors won that year.


Peak years (1974–1983)

In 1974, Connors was the dominant player. He had a 93–4 record that year and won 15 tournaments of the 21 he entered, including three of the four Grand Slam singles titles. Connors won the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, which began in late December 1973 and concluded on January 1, 1974, defeating Phil Dent in four sets. He beat
Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former World number one male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including 23 majors: a record 15 Major professional te ...
in straight sets in the final of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
losing six games. He allowed Rosewall just two games in the US Open final in the most one-sided men's singles final in the tournament's history. "From the moment I took the court and hit the first ball, I felt I was gliding. I was on a cloud. It was a terrific feeling” said Connors afterwards. Connors did not participate in the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
during his peak years (1974–78), as he was banned from playing by the event in 1974 due to his association with World Team Tennis (WTT). and in the other four years chose not to participate. His exclusion from the French Open denied him the opportunity to become the second male player of the Open era, after
Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...
, to win all four major singles titles in a calendar year. Connors is one of thirteen men to win three or more major singles titles in a calendar year. He chose not to participate in the season-ending Masters Cup between the top eight players of the world and was not eligible for the World Championship Tennis (WCT) finals because he did not compete in the WCT's regular tournaments. Connors finished 1974 at the top of ATP Point Rankings. He also was the recipient of the ''Martini and Rossi'' Award, voted for by a panel of journalists and was ranked world No. 1 by Rex Bellamy, ''Tennis Magazine'' (U.S.), Rino Tommasi,Almanacco illustrato del tennis 1989, Edizioni Panini, p.694 ''World Tennis'', Bud Collins, Judith Elian and Lance Tingay. In 1975, Connors reached the finals of Wimbledon (losing to Arthur Ashe), the US Open (losing to Manuel Orantes) and Australia (losing to John Newcombe), but he did not win any of them, although his loss to Newcombe was close as Connors lost 9–7 in a fourth set tiebreak. He never played in the Australian Open again. He won nine of the tournaments he entered achieving an 82–8 record. While he earned enough points to retain the ATP No. 1 ranking the entire year and was ranked number one by Rino Tommasi, all other tennis authorities, including the ATP, named Arthur Ashe, who solidly defeated Connors at Wimbledon, as the Player of the Year. He once again did not participate in the Masters Cup or the WCT Finals. In 1976 Connors lost in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon to Roscoe Tanner. At the US Open, Connors captured the title once again (defeating Björn Borg). After the match, Borg said “it was a very good match. It was the best Jimmy has ever played against me. He hit everything on the lines, everything in the corners. I couldn't do anything. Usually, you play like that for one and a half sets and start missing. But he was very consistent." He won 12 events, including the U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia, Palm Springs and Las Vegas, he achieved a record of 90–8 and defeated Borg all four times they played. He was ranked No. 1 by the ATP for the entire year and was ranked number one by ''World Tennis, Tennis Magazine'' (U.S.), Bud Collins, Lance Tingay, John Barrett,The Financial Times and Tommasi. The ATP named Björn Borg as its Player of the Year. In 1977, an injured Connors lost in the Wimbledon finals to Borg 6–4 in the fifth set and in the US Open finals to Guillermo Vilas, but Connors captured both the Masters, beating Borg, and the WCT Finals. While holding onto the ATP No. 1 ranking, ''World Tennis'' Magazine and most tennis authorities ranked Borg or Vilas No. 1 with Connors rated as No. 3 behind Borg. He won eight tournaments this year. In 1978, Borg defeated Connors in the Wimbledon final. Connors defeated Borg in the US Open final (played on hardcourt for the inaugural time). ''The Los Angeles Times'' described the match by saying "Connors played smashingly, as he has all tournament, pressuring Borg from the start. Yet Borg looked nothing like the broad-shouldered, power-hitting Swede who dominated Connors in straight sets at Wimbledon." Borg was suffering from an infected callous on his thumb but said "it was little bit tender earlier today, but it did not bother me during the match. Jimmy was just too good today." Connors reached the final of the US Open in five straight years from 1974 through 1978, winning three times with each win being on a different surface ( 1974 on grass,
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
on clay and
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
on hard). Connors won ten tournaments in 1978, including the U.S. Pro Indoor. While he retained the ATP No. 1 ranking at the end of the year, the ATP and most tennis authorities rated Borg, who also won the French Open, as the player of the year. Connors reached the ATP world No. 1 ranking on July 29, 1974, and held it for 160 consecutive weeks, a record until it was surpassed by
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
on February 26, 2007. He was the year-end No. 1 player from 1974 through 1978 and held the No. 1 ranking for a total of 268 weeks during his career. Connors relinquished his initial grip (160 weeks) on the No. 1 ranking for only one week, from August 23 to 30, 1977, before resuming as No. 1 for another 84 weeks. From 1979 to 1981, Connors lost in the semifinals of the three top Grand Slam events every time except the 1981 French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals. He reached the semifinals at the Masters in 1979 and 1980, but he did win the WCT Finals in 1980. He was generally ranked third in the world those years. He won eight tournaments in 1979, six in 1980 and four in 1981. In 1982, Connors experienced a resurgence as he defeated John McEnroe in five close sets "that varied from boringly slow to fiercely brilliant" to win the Wimbledon final. Connors beat Ivan Lendl in the US Open final when Lendl was unable to cope "with Connors' penetrating, sharply-angled groundstrokes into the corners, or his net-charging attacks". After the US Open, Connors reclaimed the ATP No. 1 ranking. He also reached the semifinal of the Masters Cup and won five other tournaments for a total of seven. After trading the number-one ranking back and forth with McEnroe, he finished the year ranked No. 2 in points earned, but he was named Player of the Year by the ATP and was ITF World Champion due to his victories at Wimbledon and the US Open. In 1983, Connors, McEnroe and Lendl traded the No. 1 ranking several times. Connors won the US Open for a record fifth time beating Lendl in the final in four sets, where he "blunted Lendl's power with defensive strength and spectacular volleys". It was his 100th tournament victory and fourth of the year. He finished the year as the No. 3 ranked player.


Later years (1984–1996)

In 1984 Connors had made both the finals of Wimbledon and the WCT finals with semifinal appearances at the French Open, the US Open, and the Masters Cup. He won five tournaments and finished the year as the No. 2 ranked player after McEnroe. In 1985, he made the semifinals of the three majors he entered and finished No. 4 for the year, a ranking he would again obtain in 1987, at the age of 35. In the fourth round of the
1987 Wimbledon Championships The 1987 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 101st edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
, Connors defeated
Mikael Pernfors Mikael Pernfors (; born 16 July 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1986, and won the 1993 Canadian Open in Montreal. Career Pernfors played a topspin-heavy basel ...
, ten years his junior, in five sets from two sets down and having trailed 1–4 in the third set and 0–3 in the fourth set. In July 1988, Connors ended a four-year title drought by winning the Sovran Bank Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. It was the 106th title of his career. Connors had played in 56 tournaments and lost 11 finals since his previous victory in the Tokyo Indoors against Lendl in October 1984. He also won the title at Toulouse. In 1989, Connors won the final tournaments of his career at Toulouse (beating his old rival McEnroe, who was then ranked No. 4 in the world) and Tel Aviv. He still holds the Open era record with 109 men's singles titles. At the 1989 US Open, Connors defeated the third seed (and future two-time champion)
Stefan Edberg Jan Stefan Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), one of two players in the ...
, in straight sets in the fourth round, in a match in which Connors accumulated fines of $2,250 for three code violations, was penalized a game in the second set and was one more code violation from being defaulted. Afterwards Connors said "I went out and played a match everybody dreams will happen and he played one of those matches you hope you have only one time in your career.” Connors pushed sixth-seeded
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
to five sets in the quarterfinals before losing. He ended 1989 ranked 14 in the world. Connors' career seemed to be at an end in 1990, when he played only three tournament matches and lost all three, dropping to No. 936 in the world rankings. However, after surgery on his deteriorating left wrist, he came back to play 14 tournaments in 1991. An ailing back forced him to retire from a five-sets match in the third round of the French Open against
Michael Chang Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1996. Chang is the youngest man in history to win a singl ...
, the 1989 champion. Connors walked off the court, after hitting a service-return winner against Chang on the first point of the fifth set, having just levelled the match by winning the fourth. Connors recuperated and made an improbable run to the 1991 US Open semifinals which he later said were "the best 11 days of my tennis career". In the first round, Connors was two sets and 3-0 down against Patrick McEnroe before winning in five sets. He then had straight sets wins over Michiel Schapers and 10th seed Karel Novacek. In the fourth round, on his 39th birthday, he defeated 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein in five sets, in 4 hours and 41 minutes, coming back from a 2–5 deficit in the final set. Connors then defeated Paul Haarhuis in the quarterfinals in four sets after Haarhuis had served for a two sets to love lead. He lost to
Jim Courier James Spencer Courier (born August 17, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 58 ...
in the semifinals, in straight sets. 22 years later,
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
aired a documentary commemorating Connors's run. In 1992, Connors beat world No. 3, Michael Stich, at Memphis. Afterwards Stich accused Connors of being "very unfair on the court,” saying "he talks to the crowd between your first and second serves and he talks to the crowd as you are preparing for your serve. If that’s his idea of winning... I think it’s ridiculous what he’s doing." Connors lost in the semifinals to Mal Washington. He beat 20 year old world No. 12, Wayne Ferreira, to reach the quarterfinals at Indianapolis, before losing to Boris Becker. Connors participated in his last major tournament, in the 1992 US Open, where he beat 22 year old
Jaime Oncins Jaime Oncins (born 16 June 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil. Oncins represented his native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where he reached the quarterfinals before falling to Russia's Andrei Cherkasov. ...
in straight sets in the first round on his 40th birthday, before losing to Lendl (then ranked No. 7) in four sets, in the second round. In September 1992, Connors played
Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...
in the third Battle of the Sexes tennis match at
Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...
in
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. Connors was allowed only one serve per point and Navratilova was allowed to hit into half the doubles court. Connors won, 7–5, 6–2 and won an estimated $1 million. In February 1993, Connors reached the semifinals of the
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
tournament, beating Richard Matuszewski, Bryan Shelton (in an ill-tempered match in which Shelton afterwards accused Connors of disrupting his concentration by stalling, yelling obscenities and playing to the crowd) and 21 year old Chuck Adams, before retiring against Brad Gilbert due to bone spurs in his right foot. However, this would not be the end of his playing career. As late as June 1995, three months shy of his 43rd birthday, Connors beat 22 year old
Sébastien Lareau Sébastien Lareau (; born April 27, 1973) is a former professional tennis player. He became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title by winning the 1999 US Open men's doubles with his American partner Alex O'Brien. As a singles player ...
, in straight sets, and 27 year old Martin Sinner, in straight sets, to progress to the quarterfinals of the Halle event in Germany. Connors lost this quarterfinal in straight sets to
Marc Rosset Marc Rosset (; born 7 November 1970) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He is best known for winning the men's singles gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won a major doubles title, at the French Open in 1992 partnering c ...
. His last match on the ATP Tour came in April 1996, when he lost in three sets to Richey Reneberg in Atlanta. Connors endorsed Converse but wore Nike Air Tech Challenge IV low's at one time.


Rivalries

Prominent contemporary players with Connors included Phil Dent,
Brian Gottfried Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is an American retired tennis player who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career. He was the runner-up in singles at the 1977 French Open – Men's singles, 1977 F ...
, Raul Ramírez, Harold Solomon, Dick Stockton,
Roscoe Tanner Leonard Roscoe Tanner (born October 15, 1951) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 on July 30, 1979. Tanner won 16 titles throughout his career. Tanner was famous for his big ...
, and
Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Vilas (; born 17 August 1952) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was the world No. 1 of the Grand Prix tennis circuit, Grand Prix seasons in 1974, 1975 and 1977. He won 62 singles titles and 16 doubles titles during ...
. His prominent older opponents included Pancho Gonzales,
Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former World number one male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including 23 majors: a record 15 Major professional te ...
,
Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...
,
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...
,
John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles. Newcombe won a combined 26 major titles: seven in singles, a former ...
,
Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...
, Stan Smith and
Manuel Orantes Manuel Orantes Corral (; born 6 February 1949) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He won 36 career singles titles, including the 1975 US Open, defeating defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final. Orantes reached a career-high ...
. His prominent younger opponents included
Vitas Gerulaitis Vytautas "Vitas" Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1978. Gerulaitis won the men's si ...
,
Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...
,
John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
,
Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player and coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis ...
,
Stefan Edberg Jan Stefan Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), one of two players in the ...
,
Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (; born 22 November 1967) is a German former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Becker won 49 c ...
and
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
.


Björn Borg

During his best years of 1974 through 1978, Connors was challenged the most by Borg, with twelve matches on tour during that time frame. Borg won only four of those meetings, but two of those wins were in the Wimbledon finals of
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
and
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
. Connors lost his stranglehold on the top ranking to Borg in early 1979 and wound up with an official tour record of 8 wins and 15 losses against Borg as Borg was four years younger and won the last ten times they met. Head to head in major championship finals, they split their four meetings, Borg winning two Wimbledons (
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
and
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
) and Connors winning two US Opens (
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
and
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
). Connors described his rivalry with Borg in a 1987 newspaper article by saying "Borg and I were fire and ice. We were just entirely different people on and off the court."


Ilie Năstase

Nastase was another rival in Connors's prime. Though six years older than Connors, Nastase won eleven of their first twelve meetings. However, Connors then won eleven of their final fifteen meetings to trail Nastase 12-15. The two would team up to win the doubles championships at the 1973 Wimbledon and the 1975 US Open.


Manuel Orantes and Guillermo Vilas

Orantes upset Connors in the final of the 1975 US Open, but Connors was 12 wins and 3 losses overall against Orantes in tour events. On the other hand, Vilas wore down Connors in the final of the 1977 US Open and was much more competitive in all of their meetings. Connors was able to manage only a 5–4 record against Vilas in tour events.


Rod Laver and John Newcombe

In 1975, Connors won two highly touted "Challenge Matches", both arranged by the Riordan company and televised nationally by
CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
from
Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...
in
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. The first match, in February and billed as $100,000 ($ today) winner-takes-all, was against 36 year old Laver. Connors won that match in four sets. In April, Connors met Newcombe in a match billed as a $250,000 winner-takes-all. Connors won the match in four sets. Connors ended his business relationship with Riordan later in 1975. Connors played Newcombe six matches listed on the ATP website, with Newcombe winning the first two meetings on grass (1973 US Open quarterfinal and 1975 Australian Open final) and Connors winning the last four on indoor carpet (WCT Aetna World Cup 1976 and 1978) and hard courts (1978 Sydney Indoor quarterfinal and 1979 Hong Kong round of 16). Connors won all three meetings with Rod Laver in tour events, all when Laver was at least 37 years old.


John McEnroe

In the 1980 WCT Finals, Connors defeated the defending champion, John McEnroe. In 1982, at age 29, Connors was back in the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced McEnroe, who by then was established firmly as the world's top player. Connors recovered from being three points away from defeat in a fourth-set tie-break (at 3–4) to win the match, 3–6, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, and claimed his second Wimbledon title, eight years after his first. Although Connors's tour record against McEnroe was 14–20 McEnroe is 6½ years younger than Connors and had a losing record against Connors until he won 12 out of their last 14 meetings. Head to head in major championship finals, they split their two meetings, Connors winning the
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
Wimbledon in five sets, and McEnroe winning the
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
Wimbledon in straight sets. McEnroe won six of their nine meetings in Grand Slam events. Connors described his rivalry with McEnroe in a newspaper article in 1987 by saying "We went at it on and off the court. That was because we were fire and fire, we were so similar. Still are."


Ivan Lendl

Connors defeated another of the next generation of tennis stars, Ivan Lendl, in the 1982 US Open final and soon regained the No. 1 ranking. Connors had a tour record of 13–22 against Lendl, but Lendl is eight years younger than Connors and had a losing record against Connors until he won their last 17 matches from 1984 through 1992, after Connors's prime. Head to head in major championship finals, Connors defeated Lendl in both meetings, winning the
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
and
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
US Open. Connors described his rivalry with Lendl in a newspaper article in 1987 by saying "Lendl and I didn’t get along, and I won a lot early. He’s won a lot later."


Maverick

In 1974, Connors and Riordan began filing lawsuits against the ATP and its president,
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...
, for allegedly restricting his freedom in the game. The lawsuits stemmed from the French Open banning Connors in 1974 after he had signed a contract to play World Team Tennis (WTT) for the Baltimore Banners. Connors was seeking to enter the French Open, but the ATP and French officials opposed WTT because of scheduling conflicts. Just before the start of Wimbledon 1975 the British press reported that Riordan had filed lawsuits claiming damages against Arthur Ashe and ATP secretary Bob Briner. Ashe had criticised Connors in a letter as “seemingly unpatriotic” for playing lucrative ‘challenge’ matches, rather than joining the U.S. Davis Cup team and Briner had called Riordan, a “nihilist”. Connors dropped Riordan (and the lawsuits) in November 1975. At Wimbledon in 1977, he declined to participate in a parade of former champions to celebrate the tournament's centenary, choosing instead to practice in the grounds with Ilie Nastase while the parade took place. In 2000, he also declined to join a gathering of 58 former champions held to mark the millennium. In his 2013 autobiography, Connors blamed his missing the 1977 parade on the All England Club for not letting his doctor onto the grounds so that Connors could try on a customized splint for a thumb injury. Connors explained that this necessitated his rushing to meet the doctor at the entrance to the grounds, and then convincing Nastase to help him try out the splint on a practice court. By Connors' account, he then rushed to Centre Court for the parade, but was too late. Connors also irritated sponsors and tennis officials by shunning the end-of-year Masters championship from 1974 through 1976. However, he entered this round-robin competition in 1977 when it moved to New York City. Although Connors lost a celebrated late-night match to Vilas, he took the title by defeating Borg in the final. In a semi final of a tournament at Boca Raton in February 1986 against Ivan Lendl, Connors protested what he said was a bad line call in the sixth game of the fifth set that gave Lendl a 3-2, 40-0 lead. Umpire Jeremy Shales, after imposing a 15-second warning, gave Connors a code-of-conduct warning for delay of game. Connors then was penalized a point giving Lendl the game and making the fifth-set score 4-2 for Lendl. Connors continued to protest and refused to play. He then was given a game penalty, making it 5-2 for Lendl. After supervisor Ken Farrar had failed to persuade Connors to continue play, he was defaulted. Connors insisted that he did not quit the match. Connors told reporters the next week at Palm Springs. "I didn't quit, I was defaulted. I take full credit, good or bad, for what I've done. If I'm suspended, I'll just go home and ride my horses. I was standing up for the rights of players. I'll tell you, if a lot of guys could afford it, they would do it. I did it because I thought it was right." A month after the incident, the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council decided that Connors would be banned for 10 weeks and fined $20,000 (in addition to $5,000 imposed on the day of the match).


Distinctions and honors

Connors is often considered among the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport. Connors won a male open era record 109 singles titles. He also won 16 doubles titles (including the men's doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1973 and the US Open in 1975). Connors has won more matches (1,274) than any other male professional tennis player in the open era. His career win–loss record was 1,274–283 for a winning percentage of 82.4. He played 398 tournaments, a record until
Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (; born 9 December 1972) is a French former professional tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming towards the end of his ca ...
overtook it in 2008. In Grand Slam Singles events, Connors reached the semifinals or better a total of 31 times and the quarterfinals or better a total of 41 times, despite entering the Australian Open Men's Singles only twice and not entering the French Open Men's Singles for five of his peak career years. The 31 semifinals stood as a record until surpassed by Roger Federer at Wimbledon 2012. The 41 quarterfinals remained a record until Roger Federer surpassed it at Wimbledon 2014. Connors was the only player to win the US Open on three different surfaces:
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
,
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
, and hard. He was also the first male tennis player to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces: grass (1974), clay (1976), and hard (1978). Connors was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...
in 1998 and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1986. He also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In his 1979 autobiography, tennis promoter and Grand Slam winning player Jack Kramer ranked Connors as one of the 21 best players of all time. Because of his fiery competitiveness and acrimonious relationships with a number of peers, he has been likened to baseball player
Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...
.ESPN's
30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series und ...
documentar
''This is What They Want''
/ref> In 1983, Fred Perry ranked the greatest male players of all time and put them in to two categories, before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and after. Perry's modern best behind Laver: "Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Hoad, Jack Kramer, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Manuel Santana".


Playing style

In the modern era of power tennis, Connors' style of play has often been cited as highly influential, especially in the development of the flat backhand. Larry Schwartz on ESPN.com said about Connors, "His biggest weapons were an indomitable spirit, a two-handed backhand and the best service return in the game. It is difficult to say which was more instrumental in Connors becoming a champion. ... Though smaller than most of his competitors, Connors didn't let it bother him, making up for a lack of size with determination." Of his own competitive nature Connors has said, " ere's always somebody out there who's willing to push it that extra inch, or mile, and that was me. (Laughter) I didn't care if it took me 30 minutes or five hours. If you beat me, you had to be the best, or the best you had that day. But that was my passion for the game. If I won, I won, and if I lost, well, I didn't take it so well." His on-court antics, designed to get the crowd involved, both helped and hurt his play. Schwartz said, "While tennis fans enjoyed Connors's gritty style and his never-say-die attitude, they often were shocked by his antics. His sometimes vulgar on-court behavior—like giving the finger to a linesman after disagreeing with a call or strutting about the court with the tennis racket handle between his legs; sometimes he would yank on the handle in a grotesque manner and his fans would go wild or groan in disapproval—did not help his approval rating. During the early part of his career, Connors frequently argued with umpires, linesmen, the players union,
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
officials and other players. He was even booed at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
—a rare show of disapproval there—for snubbing the Parade of Champions on the first day of the Centenary in 1977." His brash behavior both on and off the court earned him a reputation as the brat of the tennis world. Tennis commentator Bud Collins nicknamed Connors the "Brash Basher of Belleville" after the
St Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
suburb where he grew up. Connors himself thrived on the energy of the crowd, positive or negative, and manipulated and exploited it to his advantage in many of the greatest matches of his career. Connors was taught to hit the ball on the rise by his teaching-pro mother, Gloria Connors, a technique he used to defeat the opposition in the early years of his career. Gloria sent her son to Southern California to work with Pancho Segura at the age of 16. Segura advanced Connors' game of hitting the ball on the rise which enabled Connors to reflect the power and velocity of his opponents back at them. In the 1975 Wimbledon final,
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...
countered this strategy by taking the pace off the ball, giving Connors only soft junk shots (dinks, drop shots, and lobs) to hit. In an era when the serve and volley was the norm,
Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...
excepted, Connors was one of the few players to hit the ball flat, low, and predominantly from the baseline. Connors hit his forehand with a semi-Western grip and with little net clearance. Contemporaries such as Arthur Ashe and commentators such as Joel Drucker characterized his forehand as his greatest weakness, especially on extreme pressure points, as it lacked the safety margin of hard forehands hit with topspin. His serve, while accurate and capable, was never a great weapon for him as it did not reach the velocity and power of his opponents. His lack of a dominating serve and net game, combined with his individualist style and maverick tendencies, meant that he was not as successful in doubles as he was in singles, although he did win Grand Slam titles with
Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...
, reached a final with
Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...
, and accumulated 16 doubles titles during his career.


Racket evolution

At a time when most other tennis pros played with wooden rackets, Connors used the " Wilson T2000" steel racket, which utilized a method for stringing that had been devised and patented by Lacoste in 1953. He played with this chrome tubular steel racket until 1984, when most other pros had shifted to new racket technologies, materials, and designs. At the
Tokyo Indoor The Tokyo Indoor was a men's tennis tournament played in Tokyo, Japan on indoor carpet courts from 1966 to 1995. History The event was established in 1966 but had periods when it was not staged. It was played as part of the Grand Prix Tennis To ...
in October 1983, Connors switched to a new mid-size graphite racket, the Wilson ProStaff, that had been designed especially for him and he used it on the 1984 tour. But 1985 again found Connors playing with the T2000. In 1987, he finally switched to a graphite racket when he signed a contract with
Slazenger Slazenger () is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group (formerly Sports Direct). One of the world's oldest sport brands, the company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by entrepreneurial brothers, Ralph and Al ...
to play their Panther Pro Ceramic. In 1990, Connors signed with Estusa. Connors used lead tape which he would wind around the racket head to provide the proper "feel" for his style of game.


Commentating

Connors did commentary with NBC-TV in 1990 and 1991, during its coverage of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
tournaments. During the Wimbledon tournaments of 2005, 2006, and 2007, Connors commentated for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
alongside
John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
(among others), providing moments of heated discussion between two former archrivals. Connors returned to BBC commentary at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
in 2014. Connors has also served as a commentator and analyst for the Tennis Channel since the US Open tournament of 2009.


Coaching

On July 24, 2006, at the start of the Countrywide Classic tournament in Los Angeles, American tennis player
Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
announced his partnership with Connors as his coach. In September,
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
Roddick reached the final of the U.S. Open, where he lost to
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
. On March 6, 2008, Roddick announced the end of that 19-month relationship. In July 2013 former women's world No. 1
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
announced on her website that Connors was her new coach. On August 15, 2013, Sharapova confirmed that she had ended the partnership with Connors after just one match together.


Author

In 2013, Connors published his autobiography ''The Outsider''. It won the British Sports Book Awards in the "Best Autobiography/Biography" category.


Personal life

Connors was engaged to fellow tennis pro
Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...
from 1974 to 1975, and they each triumphed in the singles events at the 1974 Wimbledon Championships, a feat labelled "The Lovebird Double" by the media. Their engagement was broken off shortly before the 1975 Wimbledon championship. Connors and Evert briefly reconciled in 1976 and 1978, before parting for good. In May 2013, Connors wrote his
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
in which he alleged that Evert was
pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
with their child and that she unilaterally made the decision to have an
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
. Former
Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...
Marjorie Wallace Marjorie Wallace (born January 23, 1954) is an American actress, television host, model and beauty queen. In Miss World 1973, 1973, she made history as the first woman from the United States to be crowned Miss World, but just 104 days later, pa ...
was engaged to Connors from 1976 to 1977, but in 1979 Connors married ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' model Patti McGuire. They have two children, son Brett and daughter Aubree, and live in the
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
, area."'Lovebird Double' who ruled Wimbledon"
''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' (London), June 19, 2004. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
In the fall of 1988, Connors auditioned to host the NBC daytime version of '' Wheel of Fortune'', a show of which he and his wife "never missed an episode". However, the job went to
Rolf Benirschke Rolf Joachim Benirschke (born February 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Diego Chargers from 1977 until 1986. He is probably most kno ...
. According to show creator
Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...
, many news outlets tried to get their hands on Connors' audition tape, but Griffin refused to release it because he said "it wouldn't have been fair to Jimmy." In the 1990s, he joined his brother John as an investor in the Argosy Gaming Company, which owned
riverboat casino A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to en ...
s on the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. The two owned 19 percent of the company which was headquartered in East Alton, Illinois, in the St. Louis
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
. Argosy narrowly averted bankruptcy in the late 1990s and Connors' brother John personally sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In the liquidation, Connors, through his company, Smooth Swing, acquired the Alystra Casino in
Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...
, for $1.9 million from Union Planters Bank, which had foreclosed on John. In 1995, John Connors had opened the casino with announced plans to include a Jimmy Connors theme area. It was shuttered in 1998 and became a magnet for the
homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
and thieves who stripped its copper piping. The casino never reopened under Connors' ownership and it was destroyed in a May 2008 fire. In October 2005, Connors had successful hip-replacement surgery at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
in Los Angeles. On January 8, 2007, Connors' mother Gloria died at age 82. On November 21, 2008, Connors was arrested outside an NCAA basketball game between the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
and the
University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...
after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance to the stadium. The charges were dismissed by a judge on February 10, 2009. On July 24, 2018, LiveWire Ergogenics, Inc. announced that Connors joined the firm as a spokesman and advisor. The company focuses on special purpose real estate acquisitions and the licensing and management of fully compliant turnkey production facilities for cannabis-based products and services. In December 2019, Connors appeared as himself on season 18 episode 9 of ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'' titled ''Christmas Is Coming''.


Career statistics


Singles performance timeline

* Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December. Connors did not play these tournaments.


Records

*These records were attained in
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
of tennis. *Combined tours included
Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
, Grand Prix Circuit,
World Championship Tennis World Championship Tennis (WCT) was one of the principal organizing bodies of men's professional tennis headquartered at the WCT Lakeway World of Tennis facility, Austin, Texas, United States from 1968 to 1989. It administered the WCT Circuit a w ...
. *Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.


Professional awards

* ITF World Champion: 1982 * ATP Player of the Year: 1974, 1982 * ATP Comeback Player of the Year: 1991


See also

* ATP World Tour records * Connors–McEnroe rivalry * List of open era tennis records * List of Grand Slam related tennis records * Tennis male players statistics *
Tennis records of All Time – Men's singles Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered ...
*
Tennis records of the Open Era – Men's singles Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
* World number one male tennis player rankings


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * *Seebohm, Caroline, (2009), Little Pancho


Video

*''Charlie Rose with Jimmy Connors (August 7, 1995)'' Studio: Charlie Rose, DVD Release Date: October 5, 2006, ASIN: B000JCF3S8 *''Biography: Jimmy Connors DVD'
A&E
2002. *''Jimmy Connors Presents Tennis Fundamentals: Comprehensive'', Starring: Jimmy Connors; Chris Evert, Foundation Sports, DVD Release Date: May 1, 2006, Run Time: 172 minutes, ASIN: B000FVQWCY. *''Wimbledon 1975 Final: Ashe vs. Connors'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007, Run Time: 120 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CTQ.


External links

* * * *


BBC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connors, Jimmy 1952 births Living people American male tennis players American autobiographers Tennis coaches from Illinois Australian Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California People from East St. Louis, Illinois Sportspeople from Belleville, Illinois American tennis commentators Tennis players from Missouri UCLA Bruins men's tennis players US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players ITF World Champions Tennis coaches from California