Jimmy Connors discusses his Wimbledon memories and famous rivalry with John McEnroe 

Yes where are the Americans these days??

Nastatse was one of my favorite players, very entertaining.

​@@Brian-xu9di... Martina Hinges sp ? was my favorite to watch, and I am a tennis instructor. #

@@iggypopisgod9 Connors should never have lost the 3 Grand Slam finals,the following year!!

I respected Borg. What genuine tennis fan wouldn't. But it was Connors whose personality and style of play I found most captivating and charismatic.

A true tennis fan! Adriano!

Lendl had a better win loss against all those guys

Sampras shpuld be among the favorites of everyone. Very special style player. And same for Federer.

@@dansmith9724 Borg beat Lendl 6-2.

Totally. Peak to peak, he's right up there with Petros, Nole and Mac imo

@@farid1406 Connors was the Roberto Duran of tennis. Total war

A great player and competitor, but not sure about ambassador. He wasn't popular within the tennis circuit and displayed a lot of self centred arrogance, even by your average pro tennis player standards

yes the golden age indeed

Correct s true gentleman

50% nostalgia and 50% fact 🙂

Yeah...almost all of the top tennis stars of the late 70s and early 80s, personality-wise, fit and complemented each other, like jig saw puzzles pieced together. Borg, McEnroe, Vitas, Jimmy, Nastase, Vilas, Ashe, and on and on!

Maybe it is also because there was much more space in the game for their personality to shine through? What Jimmy described as an honor might be called achievement today.

It was only just last year that Roger Federer broke Jimmy Connors' record of most wins on a grass surface....people forget how great Connors was...

Most match wins, also.

Jimmy was motivated like a " Fiery Demon ".

​@@joemarshall4226...I saw Conners play at Wimbledon in 1984, he won against Paul...... an American in straight set. massacre. Cannot remember Paul's last name, he is still around tennis now as some executive. ...Then saw Connors in Vail, Colorado where he Lost and was smashing the portable chairs in violent anger. !!! Summer 1985. Ex President Gerald Ford was sitting opposite from me, as he had a house in Vail. 3:23

!!! Just Remembered ...it was Paul Anacone at Wimbeldon. Ooops.

..P. S. At Wimbledon , Lady Diana was sitting in the Royal Box just across from my seats which were good seats. Prince Charles was not there. Nobody missed him, I can safely say.

Agree completely 👌

I don’t think that’s likely ….

+PJR1966007 And Bjorn Borg!

Mine too! I loved watching Jimmy Connors play tennis. He wasn't the most gifted player ever, but he gave it his all every time he stepped onto a court.

Really? I got the hardback, read it front to back but decided it wasn't a keeper. Agassi's book 'Open' is wayyyyy better.

Fantastic read I really enjoyed it 😊 👍

The fiercest competitor, who didn't understand the meaning of giving up. No one to touch him in that respect until Nadal came. The other player I wd choose to fight if my life depended on it, wd be Lleyton Hewitt. He gets overlooked, but he always gave everything he'd got, and was very sporting when he lost.

@@michelez715 Good choices. Jimmy pointed out the same thing about these players. He also loved David Ferrer. real scrappers....little guys with hearts like a lion's....we should mention Michael Chang, as well.

Well said...Connors was more talented than Nadal ONLY when he old his fight made him win

Evonne Goolagong made better than Jimbo, nine years (1971 then 1980)

Right... True real lawn tennis

What?!

Quite the opposite of a nice guy, but a fascinating and bold champion.

Nice sometimes mean sometimes! Lol

AND YOUR POINT IS ?

+flotech66 That's absurd. If anything, he is underrated. How old are you?

No way Connors is over-rated. He was a winning machine. His footwork, guts and grunt, the backhand drive...a ferocious competitor. He never let up.

With all respect your are a plank Making such a comment

Overrated? The man won 109 ATP tournaments and the record still stands 30 plus years after his retirement.

109 singles most ever..titles 8 majors including winning the US Open on three different surfaces(including clay) and 3 of the four majors….impressive

Then you missed some really great tennis from two legends of the game. None of the crap that you get from some of the players today. No grunting, no crying (like Andy Murray did in Wimbledon 2012.) they would give their opinions on just what the play was if they thought the Umpire was being unfair or did not see/call the correct play. They would entertain the audience with their antics and made Tennis what it is today. They didn't have all the advantages that the players have today - they didn't earn the high prize money that they do now. The Players today may have the speed and the racquets that help them in their games but if not for players like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver, Bille-Jean King, Chris Evert, Evonne Gooloogong-Cawley, Martina Navratilova,etc then we wouldn't have the players of today. They paved the way for the champions of today and tomorrow. If you watch McEnroe and Connors play you will see that they play up to the net which most players today with the exception of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal don't seem to do. So again, you missed a great era for men's as well as women's tennis. I feel sorry that you feel that both Connors and McEnroe are jerks. Because they are two of the finest players of the great game of Tennis.

Connors lacked maturity until he became a father. His remaking started in '78 when he beat Borg for the U.S. Open after Borg owned him at Wimbledon that year. The New York fans didn't like him a whole lot, but Connors said after winning, "You may not always like me, but I like you." Everyone in the stadium in New York stood and applauded. Connors won more than the US Open that day. He won New York. And he did it beating a huge rival in Borg. Borg even said Connors and McEnroe owned him at the US Open the way Borg owned Connors at Wimbledon.

vccstudents So True. He always had this me,me,me attitude and when he became a father he found that the world does not revolve around him. He started to grow up and with this new attitude he was able to reinvent himself and become a better player as well as a better person. He would still speak his mind and argue with the umpire but he did with out throwing a tantrum like he used to.

Ricardo Hornitos nastase was the biggest jerk

Ricardo Hornitos They brought some colors to the "white" game,unlike today with robotic atmosphere.

I didn't know Christ had an abortion. Sad. Murder. Absolutely I don't care what anyone says. Abortion is MURDER.

Nah. It would be close. Nadal has great power. But if he had to play with the rackets that Connors had to play with, he would lose a lot of that power.

No question that if Nadal has to play with those older rackets he would lose to Jimbo

Actually if Nadal used Connors piece of antiquated small metal at old Wimbledon (lower bouncing etc) Nadal would lose easily. Then again if Connors had Nadal's racket and strings etc...then again why am i responding to a childish fanboy's ignorant comment?

Hmm not sure about that, but an interesting thing to hypothesise about. I love both players, but the advantage Nadal gets from modern racquets etc is quite substantial. I'm pretty sure Nadal in his prime in 2008 to 2010 was the fitter, and on clay yes maybe he would. But on faster courts with equal equipment I'd make Conners the favourite - maybe!

Maybe. But Nadal likely uses drugs. I think most of the top players do especially him.