Jimmy Connors - USA 
| Birth Date:
| 9/2/1952 |
Age:
| 60 |
| Birth Place:
| Belleville, IL, U.S.A. |
Residence:
| Belleville, IL, U.S.A. |
| Height:
| 5'10" (178 cm) |
Weight:
| 155 lbs (70 kg) |
| Year Turned Pro:
| 1972 (40 years on tour) |
Plays:
| Left-handed |
| Official Website:
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Twitter:
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A former No. 1 player and eight-time singles major winner, American Jimmy Connors racked up 109 singles titles, 16 doubles crowns and close to $9 million in prize money in a professional career that spanned 27 years.
He finished with a gaudy 1,241-277 record, good for an 81.75 winning percentage and was ranked No. 1 nine different times, including for 160 straight weeks between July of 1974 and August of 1977.
Perhaps even more astonishing is his Top 10 longevity. After entering the Top 10 at No. 10 on Aug. 23, 1973, Connors remained among the Top 10 players in the world until May 1, 1989, except for one week in 1988 when he "slipped" to No. 1. In that span, Connors was a Top 10 player for 817 of 818 weeks.
Connors did not join the ATP until 1974, refusing to do so under the advice of manager and promoter Bill Riordan. After winning the NCAA singles title during his one year at UCLA, Connors played in smaller tournaments, many of them organized by Riordan, as well as participating in World Team Tennis for the Baltimore Banners.
When Connors did turn pro in 1974, he dominated, winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US open. He was refused entry from the French Open because the WTT's schedule conflicted with the classic at Roland Garros, thus missing a chance to join Rod Laver as the only man to win the Grand Slam in a single season of the Open Era. Connors took the No. 1 spot in the world after winning Wimbledon and held the mark for 160 straight weeks, a record broken by Roger Federer in 2007.
He won 15 titles in all in 1974, a career-best. Always a businessman as well as a competitor, Connos played two high-profile "Challenge Matches" in 1975, the first in Las Vegas against Laver, who wa 36 years old at the time. Connors won the match in four sets, and won $100,000 for his efforts. He later would play rival John Newcombe in a $250,000 match, also in Vegas, winning that one as well.
Newcombe beat Connors in the 1975 Australian Open final, and Arthur Ashe did likewise at Wimbledon. Connors made it three major finals, but three losses when he dropped the US Open championship match to Manuel Orantes, but had no trouble holding on to his No. 1 ranking by winning nine tournaments overall.
Connors added his fourth major in 1976, defeating Bjorn Borg on clay in the final of the US Open in four sets, part of a trend that denied the legendary Swede a career Grand Slam. The win put Connors in unique history as the only man to win the US Open singles title on grass, hard courts and clay. He won the Masters, but not a major in 1977, then won the US Open for a third time in 1978, beating Borg again as the tournament was held at Flushing Meadows for the first time. Connors lost his hold on No. 1 in 1979, and did not win a major between 1979-1981, although he did claim 17 titles overall in that three-year stretch.
At age 29 in 1982, he returned with his best season since 1974. He had won four tournaments by the time Wimbledon rolled around, and defeated top American rival John McEnroe 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in the final to win at the All England Club for the first time in eight years.
He followed that up with a four-set win over Ivan Lendl in the finals at the US Open, his fourth crown there. He defended his title at the US Open in 1983, defeating Lendl again in the final. His run of major titles ended there, although he reached seven semifinals and one final at majors in the four years to come.
In 1986, he suffered a low point when he defaulted against Lendl in Boca Raton and was forced to pay a $20,000 fine and take a 10-week suspension from the tour. He missed the French Open, lost in the first round of Wimbledon and the third round of the US Open.
Despite advancing age, Connors continued to defy Father Time, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1987 at age 34, and the quarterfinals at the US Open when he was 36 and 37. In 1990, his career appeared over when wrist surgery saw him play only three matches the entire year and he fell to No. 936 in the world.
But the surgery was successful, and Connors played 14 more matches in 1991, inspiring the home crowds at the US Open. At age 39, and ranked No. 174 in the world, Connors defeated four Top 50 players including No. 11 Karel Novacek to reach the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Jim Courier.
The run bumped him back into the Top 100 at No. 66. He would climb as high as 33rd in August of 1992 before slipping out of the Top 100 for good in February of 1993.
Grand Slams (10)
Singles (8): Australian Open: 1974; Wimbledon: 1974, 1982; US Open: 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983.
Doubles (2): Wimbledon: 1973; US Open (1975).
Year-End Singles Rankings: 1973 - 10th; 1974 - 1st; 1975 - 1st; 1976 - 1st; 1977 - 1st; 1978 - 1st; 1979 - 2nd; 1980 - 3rd; 1981 - N/A; 1982 - 1st; 1983 - 1st; 1984 - 2nd; 1985 - 4th; 1986 - 8th; 1987 - 4th; 1988 - 7th; 1989 - 14th; 1990 - 936th; 1991 - 49th; 1992 - 84th; 1993 - 370th; 1994 - 672nd; 1995 - 419th; 1996 -1,300th; 1997 - 1,295th.
Personal
Born in Belleville, Illinois. Was engaged to Chris Evert in 1974, but broke off engagement. Married Playboy model Patti McGuire in 1979. The two have two children together. Was coached by his mother Gloria, who died in 2007 at age 82. Had a hip replacement in 2006.
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