Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world No. 1 tennis player, often considered among the greatest in the history of the sport. He held the top ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from July 29, 1974 to August 22, 1977 and an additional eight times during his career for a total of 268 weeks. He also held a year-end top ten ranking for an Open Era record 16 years...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth2 September 1952
CountryUnited States of America
The trouble with experience is that by the time you have it you are too old to take advantage of it.
Tennis was always there for me, which was lucky. I would go play baseball, basketball, football, hang with my brother, do whatever, and at the end of the day I'd come back and say, 'Hey, Mom, would you hit 15 minutes worth of balls with me?'
The minute you think you know everything about tennis is the minute your game starts going down the tubes.
I don't go out there to love my enemy. I go out there to squash him.
People say I'm around because I have a lot of heart, but I know all the heart in the world couldn't have helped me if I wasn't physically fit.
I was raised by two women, and that laid the groundwork for the way I treat 'em: with the utmost respect and admiration.
There was never anything I wanted to do more than play tennis. Never once walked out there and thought, 'I wish I was doing something else.' Not once.
I had true rivalries. Not only did I want to beat my opponent, but I didn't want to let him up, either. I had a rivalry with Mac, Lendl, Borg. Everybody knew there was tension between us, on court and off. That's what's really ingrained in my mind: 'This is real. This isn't a soft rivalry.' There were no hugs and kisses.
I've been kicked in the teeth more times in tennis than the law ought to allow.
That's something a lot of athletes miss - a lot of them walk away too soon. They don't get everything out of their system. They have a lot of what-ifs when they're sitting around later in life. I don't have that. I got all that out of my system. I pushed it to the brink, I loved it, and when I walked away, I'd had enough.
Equality? They ought to play the women's final on opening day. Everybody knows who's going to be in it.
Big money encourages tanking. In my opinion, tanking is going on even with a lot of the top guys today - it's quite evident.
I hate to lose more than I love to win.
I'm getting tired of saying hello to Stan Smith and not getting any reply. I'm cocky and confident and maybe I'm too bullheaded sometimes, but I think I have some fan and player support. I know what the others say, but I'm not that obnoxious. I am not a punk. I'm 5' 10", 155 pounds. I've got broad shoulders and I can pack a punch. Most of these guys are windbags anyway. If they ever try anything with me, I'll be to the net fast.