Jimmy Connors

This article is about tennis player Jimmy Connors. For other people, see Jimmy Connor .

Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors 1978 in Rotterdam
Nickname:	Jimmy / Jimbo
Nation:	United States
Birthday:	2nd September 1952
Size:	177 cm
1st professional season:	1972
Resignation:	1996
Playing hand:	Left, two-handed backhand
Prize money:	$ 8,461,040
singles
Career record:	1274: 283
Career title:	109
Highest ranking:	1 (July 29 1974)
Weeks as No. 1:	268
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	175: 78
Career title:	16
Highest ranking:	370 (March 1, 1993)
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2, 1952 in Belleville , Illinois ) is a retired American tennis player .

Connors, who only played his last game on the professional tour at the age of 43, won a total of eight Grand Slam tournaments in singles and two in doubles. Five years in a row (1974-1978) he ended a season at the top of the world rankings and he was number 1 for a total of 268 weeks. Connors, who was characterized by his controversial behavior on and off the tennis court, especially in his younger years one of the dominant tennis players of the 1970s and early 1980s.

In a total of 25 years as a professional he won 109 tournaments in individual competition, which is a record in the Open era to this day, and 16 double titles, including five times the US Open , twice Wimbledon and once the Australian Open . Only a success at the French Open , where he failed a total of four times in the semifinals, Connors was denied in his career. He also won the Masters once and reached the Davis Cup finals with the US team in 1984 . In his balance sheet are 1,274 won 283 lost games.

Tennis career

Connors' professional career began in the 1972 season after he had won the American college championship in singles in previous years and had already participated in several Grand Slam tournaments as an amateur. His breakthrough on the professional tour came in his debut season, in which he won five tournaments. In the 1973 season, eleven more individual titles followed, plus the double title at Wimbledon . But Connors also made headlines off the field by refusing entry to the newly founded players' association ATP and skipping a large part of the important season tournaments. Instead, he played on a tournament series set up by his manager Bill Riordan .

On the tennis court, Connors also used unpopular methods at the beginning of his career by inciting the audience against his opponent and insulting referees and opponents. In 1974 he signed a contract for the World Team Tennis game series, after which he was banned from the ATP for the French Open . Connors and Riordan responded with a lawsuit against the association and its president Arthur Ashe on the grounds that the ATP restricted his freedom. In fact, the French Open was the only Grand Slam tournament of the 1974 season that Connors couldn't win, and the suspension may have prevented a player from winning the first Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969. During the 1974 season it could Connors take the top position of the world rankings introduced last year for the first time and hold this position for the record number of 160 weeks. The record was only broken in 2007 by Roger Federer . The season was one of the most successful in tennis history, he won 15 titles and reached 17 finals. With 93 wins and 4 defeats he achieved the second best record in the Open Era, which was only surpassed by John McEnroe in 1984 (82: 3).

In his fourth professional season in 1975 Connors reached the final of all Grand Slam tournaments in which he took the title, but he lost all three matches. After that, he should never compete again at the Australian Open . Only the double title at the US Open was at the end of his Grand Slam track record of that year. In the final of Wimbledon there was a media-effective duel, as Connors met Arthur Ashe, the chairman of the ATP players' association. Ashe won the game in four straight sets, and only a short time later Connors withdrew his lawsuits and parted ways with manager Riordan. The fourth Grand Slam triumph followed in 1976 when he defeated Björn Borg at the US Open . Although the dispute with the ATP was settled, Connors continued to make negative headlines. So he refused in the 1977 season to take part in an event to celebrate the centenary of the Wimbledon tournament; as a result, he was booed at his tournament appearances. Nevertheless, he reached the final, in which he was defeated by Borg this time. In the same season, Connors then won the season-closing Masters for the first time (in which he had not started from 1974 to 1976 despite qualifying).

In 1978 Connors reached two more Grand Slam finals. At Wimbledon he lost again to Borg, but in the final of the US Open he successfully took revenge against the Swedes and achieved the third US Open triumph of his career. It was to be Connors' last Grand Slam title for almost four years. From 1979 to 1981 he continued to play successfully in the four major tournaments (in nine tournaments he was eight times in the semifinals), but he did not win another Grand Slam title. It was not until the 1982 season that Connors (who was only to return to the top position for a few weeks after losing the world rankings on April 9, 1979) was able to move into a major final again. In the duel against the younger John McEnroe in the final of Wimbledon, Connors was able to celebrate the sixth Grand Slam triumph of his career with a five-set win. Later in the season the fourth title at the US Open followed, in the final against Ivan Lendl . Against Lendl, he should succeed in the first successful title defense of his career in a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open the following year. With this victory, Connors became the first player to win 100 titles in the Open Era. This was also the last big tournament victory for him, because although he reached the final at Wimbledon again in 1984, he could only win four games in the course of the match against John McEnroe. In 1984 Connors made the third jump to the semi-finals of the French Open, in which, as in the following year, a defeat followed.

Jimmy Connors 2007 in Miami

It would take until the 1988 season for Connors to win another tournament on the ATP Tour. The once aggressive player had become a respected, older personality. Much attention was for this reason his winning streak at the US Open in the 1991 season (after he had denied in 1990 only three professional roles and was already spoken openly about a career end) when he penetrated to the semifinals to there eventually his compatriot Jim Courier to subject. Up until the 1996 season, Connors played sporadically on the tour until he finally ended his career after 25 years as a professional. In 1998, Jimmy Connors was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame .

From July 2006 to May 2008 he was the trainer of his compatriot, the former world number one Andy Roddick .

According to a 2010 study by Northwestern University , Jimmy Connors was the most successful tennis player of all time at the time of the study.

In July 2013, he was hired by Maria Sharapova as a coach, but the two separated after one game.

Private life

In the 1970s, a relationship between Connors and the then number 1 in the WTA world rankings , Chris Evert , caused a sensation. The engagement took place, which was broken off in 1975.

In 1980 he married the former playmate Patti McGuire (* 1951), with whom he has two children: son Brett and daughter Aubree Leigh. The family lives in Santa Barbara , California.

Statistics and records

Record world number one in men's singles

rank	Tennis player	Weeks
1.	Roger Federer	310
2.	Pete Sampras	286
3.	Novak Đoković	283
4th	Ivan Lendl	270
5.	Jimmy Connors	268
6th	Rafael Nadal	209
7th	John McEnroe	170
8th.	Bjorn Borg	109
9.	Andre Agassi	101
As of August 26, 2020

• With 109 individual titles, Connors holds the record for most tournament wins in individual competition and reached the most finals (164).
• For 160 weeks in a row, Connors was number 1 in the world rankings, a record that was beaten by Roger Federer on February 27, 2007 . In total, Connors was at the top of the world rankings for 268 weeks, only Roger Federer, Pete Sampras , Novak Đoković and Ivan Lendl were more successful.
• Connors is the only player to have won the US Open on three different surfaces in his career. In 1974 he won the turf tournament, in 1976 he triumphed on clay and in 1978, 1982 and 1983 on hard courts.
• With 1274 professional victories, Connors holds the record in the list of players with the most successes among professional players, and his total of 1557 games are a record.
• He won 53 indoor titles, reached 79 indoor finals and won 469 indoor matches.
• Connors holds the long-term records for various statistics around the tennis world rankings. For example, after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, he is the player with the most years among the top two players in the world rankings (9, Federer and Nadal have 11). He also holds the records for most consecutive weeks in the top 3 (507), top 4 (651), top 5 (659) and top 10 (788).

Successes in Grand Slam tournaments (singles)

title

year	competition	Final opponent	Result
1974	Australian Open	Phil Dent	7: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 3
1974	Wimbledon	Ken Rosewall	6: 1, 6: 1, 6: 4
1974	US Open	Ken Rosewall	6: 1, 6: 0, 6: 1
1976	US Open	Bjorn Borg	6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 4
1978	US Open	Bjorn Borg	6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 2
1982	Wimbledon	John McEnroe	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 7, 7: 6, 6: 4
1982	US Open	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 4
1983	US Open	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 7, 7: 5, 6: 0

Final defeats

year	competition	Final opponent	Result
1975	Australian Open	John Newcombe	5: 7, 6: 3, 4: 6, 5: 7
1975	Wimbledon	Arthur Ashe	1: 6, 1: 6, 7: 5, 4: 6
1975	US Open	Manuel Orantes	4: 6, 3: 6, 3: 6
1977	Wimbledon	Bjorn Borg	6: 3, 2: 6, 1: 6, 7: 5, 4: 6
1977	US Open	Guillermo Vilas	6: 2, 3: 6, 5: 7, 0: 6
1978	Wimbledon	Bjorn Borg	2: 6, 2: 6, 3: 6
1984	Wimbledon	John McEnroe	1: 6, 1: 6, 2: 6

Career record

Tournament / statistics	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Australian Open	(-)	(-)	-	-	S.	F.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
French Open	(-)	(-)	2R	1R	-	-	-	-	-	HF	HF	VF	VF	VF	HF	HF	-	VF	-	2R	-	3R	1R	-	-	-	-
Wimbledon	(-)	(1R)	VF	VF	S.	F.	VF	F.	F.	HF	HF	HF	S.	AF	F.	HF	1R	HF	AF	2R	-	3R	1R	-	-	-	-
US Open	(1R)	(2R)	1R	VF	S.	F.	S.	F.	S.	HF	HF	HF	S.	S.	HF	HF	3R	HF	VF	VF	-	HF	2R	-	-	-	-
Tournament victories	(0)	(0)	6th	11	15th	9	12	8th	10	8th	6th	4th	7th	4th	5	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
World ranking	(-)	(-)	-	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	2	3	2	4th	8th	4th	7th	14th	936	48	84	363	673	419	1303

Digit = 1. – 3. Tournament round; AF = round of 16; VF = quarter finals; HF = semifinals; F = final; S = tournament victory;

Tournament victories

No.	year	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	1972	Jacksonville	Hard court (i)	Clark Graebner	7: 5, 6: 4
2.	1972	Roanoke (1)	Hard court (i)	Vladimír Zedník	6: 4, 7: 6
3.	1972	Queen's Club (1)	race	John Paish	6: 2, 6: 3
4th	1972	Columbus (1)	sand	Andrew Pattison	7: 5, 6: 3, 7: 5
5.	1972	Cincinnati	sand	Guillermo Vilas	6: 3, 6: 3
6th	1972	Albany	Hard court (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 2, 7: 6
7th	1973	Baltimore	Carpet (i)	Sandy Mayer	6: 4, 7: 5
8th.	1973	Roanoke (2)	Hard court (i)	Ian Fletcher	6: 2, 6: 3
9.	1973	Salt Lake City (1)	Hard court (i)	Paul Gerken	6: 1, 6: 2
10.	1973	Salisbury (1)	Hard court (i)	Karl Meiler	7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 3
11.	1973	Hampton (1)	Hard court (i)	Ilie Năstase	4: 6, 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 3
12.	1973	Paramus	Hard court	Clark Graebner	6: 1, 6: 2
13.	1973	Boston	Hard court	Arthur Ashe	6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2
14th	1973	Columbus (2)	sand	Charlie Pasarell	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3
15th	1973	Los Angeles (1)	Hard court	Tom Okker	7: 5, 7: 6 9
16.	1973	Quebec	Hard court (i)	Marty Riessen	6: 1, 6: 4, 6: 7, 6: 0
17th	1973	Johannesburg (1)	Hard court	Arthur Ashe	6: 4, 7: 6, 6: 3
18th	1974	Australian Open	race	Phil Dent	7: 6 7 , 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 3
19th	1974	Roanoke (3)	Hard court (i)	Karl Meiler	6: 4, 6: 3
20th	1974	Little rock	Carpet (i)	Karl Meiler	6: 2, 6: 1
21st	1974	Birmingham (1)	Carpet (i)	Sandy Mayer	7: 5, 6: 3
22nd	1974	Salisbury (2)	Hard court (i)	Frew McMillan	6: 4, 7: 5, 6: 3
23.	1974	Hampton (2)	Hard court (i)	Ilie Năstase	6: 4, 6: 4
24.	1974	Salt Lake City (2)	Hard court (i)	Vitas gerulaitis	4: 6, 7: 6, 6: 3
25th	1974	Tempe	Hard court	Vijay Amritraj	6: 1, 6: 2
26th	1974	Manchester	race	Mike Collins	13:11, 6: 2
27.	1974	Wimbledon (1)	race	Ken Rosewall	6: 1, 6: 1, 6: 4
28.	1974	Indianapolis (1)	sand	Bjorn Borg	5: 7, 6: 3, 6: 4
29	1974	US Open (1)	race	Ken Rosewall	6: 1, 6: 0, 6: 1
30th	1974	Los Angeles (2)	Hard court	Harold Solomon	6: 3, 6: 1
31.	1974	London	Carpet (i)	Brian Gottfried	6: 2, 7: 6
32.	1974	Johannesburg (2)	Hard court	Arthur Ashe	7: 6, 6: 3, 6: 1
33.	1975	Nassau	Hard court	Karl Meiler	6-0, 6-2
34.	1975	Birmingham (2)	Carpet (i)	Billy Martin	6: 4, 6: 3
35.	1975	Salisbury (3)	Hard court (i)	Vitas gerulaitis	5: 7, 7: 5, 6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 0
36.	1975	Boca Raton	sand	Jürgen Fassbender	6: 4, 6: 2
37.	1975	Hampton (3)	Hard court (i)	Jan Kodeš	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 0
38.	1975	Denver (1)	Carpet (i)	Brian Gottfried	6: 3, 6: 4
39.	1975	North Conway (1)	sand	Ken Rosewall	6: 2, 6: 2
40.	1975	Bermuda	sand	Vitas gerulaitis	6: 1, 6: 4
41.	1975	Maui (1)	Hard court	Sandy Mayer	6: 1, 6: 0
42.	1976	Birmingham (3)	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 1
43.	1976	Philadelphia (1)	Carpet (i)	Bjorn Borg	7: 6 5 , 6: 4, 6: 0
44.	1976	Hampton (4)	Hard court (i)	Ilie Năstase	6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 2
45.	1976	Palm Springs (1)	Hard court	Roscoe Tanner	6: 4, 6: 4
46.	1976	Denver (2)	Carpet (i)	Ross Case	7: 6 1 , 6: 2
47.	1976	Las Vegas (1)	Hard court	Ken Rosewall	6: 1, 6: 3
48.	1976	Washington (1)	sand	Raúl Ramírez	6: 2, 6: 4
49.	1976	North Conway (2)	sand	Raúl Ramírez	7: 6, 4: 6, 6: 3
50.	1976	Indianapolis (2)	sand	Wojciech Fibak	6: 2, 6: 4
51.	1976	US Open (2)	sand	Bjorn Borg	6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 6 9 , 6: 4
52.	1976	Cologne	Carpet (i)	Frew McMillan	6: 2, 6: 3
53.	1976	Wembley (1)	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 4
54.	1977	Birmingham (4)	Carpet (i)	Bill Scanlon	6: 3, 6: 3
55.	1977	St. Louis	Carpet (i)	John Alexander	7: 6, 6: 2
56.	1977	Las Vegas (2)	Hard court	Raúl Ramírez	6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 2
57.	1977	Dallas (1)	Carpet (i)	Dick Stockton	6: 7 5 , 6: 1, 6: 4, 6: 3
58.	1977	Maui (2)	Hard court	Brian Gottfried	6: 2, 6: 0
59.	1977	Sydney (1)	Hard court (i)	Ken Rosewall	7: 5, 6: 4, 6: 2
60.	1977	Las Vegas	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 2, 5: 6, 3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 5 5
61.	1977	New York City	Carpet (i)	Bjorn Borg	6: 4, 1: 6, 6: 4
62.	1978	Philadelphia (2)	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3
63.	1978	Denver (3)	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	6: 2, 7: 6
64.	1978	Memphis (1)	Hard court (i)	Tim Gullikson	7: 6, 6: 3
65.	1978	Rotterdam (1)	Hard court (i)	Raúl Ramírez	7: 5, 7: 5
66.	1978	Birmingham	race	Raúl Ramírez	6: 3, 6: 1, 6: 2
67.	1978	Washington (2)	sand	Eddie Dibbs	7: 5, 7: 5
68.	1978	Indianapolis (3)	sand	José Higueras	7: 5, 6: 1
69.	1978	Stowe (1)	Hard court	Tim Gullikson	6: 2, 6: 3
70.	1978	US Open (3)	Hard court	Bjorn Borg	6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 2
71.	1978	Sydney (2)	Hard court (i)	Geoff Masters	6-0, 6-0, 6-4
72.	1979	Birmingham (5)	Carpet (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6: 2, 3: 6, 7: 5
73.	1979	Philadelphia (3)	Carpet (i)	Arthur Ashe	6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 1
74.	1979	Memphis (2)	Hard court (i)	Arthur Ashe	6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 3
75.	1979	Tulsa	Hard court (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6: 7, 7: 5, 6: 1
76.	1979	Indianapolis (4)	sand	Guillermo Vilas	6: 1, 2: 6, 6: 4
77.	1979	Stowe (2)	Hard court	Mike Cahill	6-0, 6-1
78.	1979	Hong Kong	Hard court	Pat Du Pré	7: 5, 6: 3, 6: 1
79.	1979	Dorado Beach	Hard court	Vitas gerulaitis	6: 5, 6: 0, 6: 4
80.	1980	Birmingham (6)	Carpet (i)	Eliot Teltscher	6: 3, 6: 2
81.	1980	Philadelphia (4)	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	6: 3, 2: 6, 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 4
82.	1980	Dallas (2)	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	2: 6, 7: 6 4 , 6: 1, 6: 2
83.	1980	North Conway (3)	sand	Eddie Dibbs	6: 3, 5: 7, 6: 1
84.	1980	Guangzhou	Carpet (i)	Eliot Teltscher	6: 2, 6: 4
85.	1980	Tokyo (1)	Carpet (i)	Tom Gullikson	6: 1, 6: 2
86.	1981	La Quinta (2)	Hard court	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 7: 6
87.	1981	Brussels	Carpet (i)	Brian Gottfried	6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3
88	1981	Rotterdam (2)	Hard court (i)	Gene Mayer	6: 1, 2: 6, 6: 2
89.	1981	Wembley (2)	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	3: 6, 2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 2
90.	1982	Monterrey	Carpet (i)	Johan Kriek	6: 2, 3: 6, 6: 3
91.	1982	Los Angeles (3)	Hard court	Mel Purcell	6: 2, 6: 1
92.	1982	Las Vegas (3)	Hard court	Gene Mayer	5: 2 task
93.	1982	Queen's Club (2)	race	John McEnroe	7: 5, 6: 3
94.	1982	Wimbledon (2)	race	John McEnroe	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 7 2 , 7: 6 5 , 6: 4
95.	1982	Columbus (3)	Hard court	Brian Gottfried	7: 5, 6: 0
96.	1982	US Open (4)	Hard court	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 4
97.	1983	Memphis (3)	Hard court (i)	Gene Mayer	7: 5, 6: 0
98	1983	Las Vegas (4)	Hard court	Mark Edmondson	7: 6, 6: 1
99	1983	Queen's Club (3)	race	John McEnroe	6: 3, 6: 3
100.	1983	US Open (5)	Hard court	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 7 2 , 7: 5, 6: 0
101.	1984	Memphis (4)	Hard court (i)	Henri Leconte	6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 5
102.	1984	La Quinta (3)	Hard court	Yannick Noah	6: 2, 6: 7 7 , 6: 3
103.	1984	Boca Raton	Hard court	Johan Kriek	7: 5, 6: 4
104.	1984	Los Angeles (4)	Hard court	Eliot Teltscher	6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 4
105.	1984	Tokyo (2)	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 0
106.	1988	Washington (3)	Hard court	Andrés Gómez	6: 1, 6: 4
107.	1988	Toulouse (1)	Carpet (i)	Andrei Chesnokov	6: 2, 6: 0
108.	1989	Toulouse (2)	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	6: 3, 6: 3
109.	1989	Tel Aviv	Hard court	Gilad Bloom	2: 6, 6: 2, 6: 1

See also

• List of winners of the Grand Slam tournaments (men's singles)

Web links

Commons : Jimmy Connors  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• ATP profile of Jimmy Connors (English)
• ITF Profile of Jimmy Connors (English)
• Davis Cup stats by Jimmy Connors (English)
• Jimmy Connors in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
• Literature by and about Jimmy Connors in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tennis ATP: Roddick hires "Jimbo" Connors as coach
2. ↑ Who's the Best Tennis Player of All Time? , northwestern.edu, (accessed July 12, 2013)
3. ↑ Connors coach Sharapova , sport1.de (accessed on July 13, 2013)