JIMMY CONNORS

'James Scott "Jimmy" Connors' (born September 2, 1952 in East St. Louis, Illinois) is a former American tennis champion who was the world number one player for 160 consecutive weeks from July 1974 to August 1977. He also was the World No. 1 player an additional eight times during his career. He won eight Grand Slam singles titles and two Grand Slam doubles titles. He is considered to be one of the top male tennis players of all time. Currently, he is coaching American tennis player Andy Roddick.

Career

In 1970, Connors played his first international matches and recorded his first significant victory in the first round of the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, defeating Roy Emerson.
In 1971, Connors won the NCAA singles title while attending the University of California, Los Angeles. He also won his first international tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, as an amateur. He turned professional in 1972 and won the Jacksonville tournament again.
Connors' competitiveness on the court quickly made him stand out. He refused to accept that he was beaten and gave everything on every point of every game, no matter how apparently hopeless the cause. He also was not averse to playing to the crowd (he once remarked that "I want to bring the crowd into the match; in short, turn it into a football game") or abusing his opponent or the umpire--anything he could think of to give himself an edge. His brash behaviour both on and off of the court earned him a reputation as the brat of the tennis world. He acquired the nickname of the "Brash Basher of Belleville" (after the St Louis suburb where he grew up). His high-profile romance with fellow teen tennis prodigy Chris Evert in the early years of his career also helped to keep him in the headlines.
Connors also acquired a reputation as a in 1972 when he refused to join the newly formed Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the union that was embraced by most male professional players. He avoided the mainstream of professional tennis to play in, and dominate, a series of smaller tournaments organized by Bill Riordan, his manager and a promoter.
In 1974, Connors and Riordan began filing lawsuits, eventually amounting to U.S. $10 million, against the ATP and its president Arthur Ashe for allegedly restricting Connors' freedom in the game. It started when Connors was banned from the French Open in 1974 after he had signed a contract to play World Team Tennis (WTT) for Baltimore. The ATP and the French Tennis Federation opposed WTT because it conflicted with the French Open; therefore, all entries to the French Open from WTT players were refused.
The French Open was the only Grand Slam tournament that Connors did not win in 1974. He won the Australian Open, defeating Phil Dent in four sets in the final. Connors then beat Ken Rosewall in straight sets in the finals of both the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Therefore, his exclusion from the French Open possibly prevented him from becoming the first male player since Rod Laver to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in one year. Though he reached the semi-finals on four occasions, Connors never won the French Open, failing to achieve a Career Grand Slam.
Connors reached the World No. 1 ranking in July 1974, and held it for 160 straight weeks--that was the world record of straight weeks being number one until Roger Federer beat it on 26th February 2007. Over the course of his career, he held the World No. 1 ranking for a total of 268 weeks.
In 1975, Connors was the runner-up in the three Grand Slam singles tournaments he had won the year before. The 1975 Wimbledon final was a duel between lawsuit opponents, as Connors lost to Ashe in what most consider to have been a great upset. Shortly thereafter, Connors dropped the lawsuits and parted with Riordan.
That year, Connors won two highly-touted "Challenge Matches," both arranged by Riordan and televised nationally by CBS Sports from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The first match, in February, was against Rod Laver, fourteen years Connors' senior at age 36. Connors won that match, billed as a U.S. $100,000 winner-takes-all, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. In April, Connors played the man who had beaten him in the Australian Open final, John Newcombe, in a match billed as a U.S. $250,000 winner-takes-all. Connors won the match in four sets.
In 1976, Connors met Björn Borg, the new Wimbledon champion, in the final of the U.S. Open, which now was being played on clay. Connors saved four set points in a third-set tie-break to beat the Swede 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-4. Connors finished 1976 as the top-ranked player for the third consecutive year.
In early 1977, Connors won his first World Championship Tennis (WCT) Finals, the championship tournament of the WCT tour.
Despite his success, Connors remained an independent character. At Wimbledon in 1977, he refused to participate in a parade of former champions to celebrate the tournament's centenary and was booed when he played in the final the following day. He lost in five sets to Borg, who a month later was able briefly to interrupt Connors' long hold on the #1 ranking. Connors then lost in the final of the U.S. Open to Guillermo Vilas.
Having irritated sponsors and tennis officials by shunning the end-of-year Masters championships for the previous three years, Connors entered the competition for the first time in January 1978. In the round-robin portion of the tournament, which had just moved to New York City, Connors lost a celebrated late-night match to Vilas 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 but took the title by defeating Borg in the final 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Borg beat Connors comfortably in the 1978 Wimbledon final, but Connors defeated the Swede 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the 1978 U.S. Open, which was held for the first time at the Flushing Meadows venue. By winning the first Grand Slam tournament ever held on hard courts, Connors became the first male tennis player to have won Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces: grass (1974), clay (1976), and hard court (1978).
Connors lost his stranglehold on the #1 ranking to Borg in early 1979. He returned to the French Open in May, losing in a semi-final. He also lost in the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, repeating those results in 1980 and 1981. His best win during these years was in 1980, when he took his second WCT Finals by defeating the defending champion, John McEnroe.
In 1982, at age 30, 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 to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 and claim his second Wimbledon title, eight years after his first.
Connors then defeated another of the next generation of tennis stars, Ivan Lendl, in the U.S. Open final and soon regained the #1 ranking. He beat Lendl again in the 1983 U.S. Open final.
Connors' last Grand Slam final came at Wimbledon in 1984, where again he faced McEnroe. This time, McEnroe won easily 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Though beaten, Connors' competitive fire was certainly not dampened. Asked afterwards if he now admitted his rival was the better player, he simply replied, "Never."
A low point in Connors' career occurred on February 21, 1986 when he was defaulted in the fifth set of a semi-final match against Lendl at the Lipton International Players Championships in Boca Raton, Florida after being angered by the officiating. He paid a U.S. $20,000 fine and accepted a ten-weeks suspension from the professional tour, starting March 30. He was forced to miss the French Open, marking the first time that any player had missed a Grand Slam tournament due to suspension. He subsequently lost in the first round at Wimbledon and the third round at the U.S. Open, a tournament where he had made at least the semi-finals for twelve consecutive years.
Connors gradually transformed himself into a respected elder of the tennis world in the later years of his career. He continued to compete forcefully against much younger men until he was well into his 41st year.
In the fourth round of the 1987 Wimbledon
tournament, Connors defeated Mikael Pernfors, ten years his junior, 1-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 after having fallen behind 1-6, 1-6, 1-4 and again 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 12 finals since his previous victory in the Tokyo Indoors against Lendl in October 1984.
At the 1989 U.S. Open, Connors defeated the third seed (and future two-time champion), Stefan Edberg, in straight sets in the fourth round and pushed sixth-seeded Andre Agassi to five sets in a quarter-final.
The defining moment of Connors' later career came in 1991. His career had 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. But 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, the 1989 champion. But Connors made an improbable run to the U.S. Open semi-finals at the age of 39. On his birthday, he defeated 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein 3-6, 7-6(8), 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in 4 hours and 41 minutes, coming back from a 2-5 deficit in the final set. Connors then was defeated in a semi-final by the reigning French Open champion, Jim Courier.
During his career, Connors won a record 109 men's singles titles. He also won 15 doubles titles (including the men's doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1973 and the U.S. Open in 1975).
In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, ranks Connors as one of the 21 best players of all time.^[1] Connors was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1998 and has his own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
On July 24, 2006 at the start of the Countrywide Classic tournament in Los Angeles, American tennis player Andy Roddick formally announced his partnership with Connors as his coach.

Personal life

Connors and Chris Evert had planned to marry in October 1973, but it was called off.
In 1980, Connors married "Playboy" model Patti McGuire. They have two children and live in the Santa Barbara, California area.
In the spring of 2006, Connors had successful hip-replacement surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. [1]
On January 8, 2007 the mother and long-time coach of Connors died at the age of 82. [2]

Style of play

Undoubtedly Connors' strongest asset was his extremely powerful flat, double-handed backhand. In an era when top-spin was becoming the rage, Connors was one of the few players to hit the ball flat and low. Connors' forehand was in the continental grip and also hit flat. While not as formidable as his backhand it shared with his backhand the great advantage of requiring relatively little energy to hit powerfully. This is perhaps one of the reasons for Connors' unusually-long 26 years as a tennis professional (excluding his time on the senior's circuit). Connors was known to practice no more than two hours a day and felt satisfied enough in his game not to improve his serve, which was accurate but slow relative to the standards of the day. Connors was unusual in being able to combine a solid base-line game with aggressive charges to the net and agile mid-court play.
Connors' game was highly reliant on precision and to obtain this he experimented extensively with lead tape wound around the head of his racket.

Trivia

Connors was noted for continuing to use the all-steel Wilson T-2000 tennis racquet for a long time, despite the fact that most professionals had switched to graphite/graphite-composite racquets. He did eventually switch to a Slazenger Panther Pro Ceramic racquet.
Connors also commentates for the BBC during the Wimbledon Championships. This often co-incides with John McEnroe's own stints as an analyst and commentator, often leading to much banter between the two former arch-rivals. Connors also has developed a trade-marked verbal "tic" when commentating, which is noticeable when, after a good shot or winner has been hit by a player, Connors will register his approval by muttering, "'hmm.' he liked to grab the ball by the hunches."

Notes

1. Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (8)

'Year	'Championship	'Opponent in Final	'Score in Final
1974	Australian Open	Phil Dent	7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
1974	Wimbledon	Ken Rosewall	6-1, 6-1, 6-4
1974	U.S. Open	Ken Rosewall	6-1, 6-0, 6-1
1976	U.S. Open (2)	Björn Borg	6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4
1978	U.S. Open (3)	Björn Borg	6-4, 6-2, 6-2
1982	Wimbledon (2)	John McEnroe	3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
1982	U.S. Open (4)	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
1983	U.S. Open (5)	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-0

Runner-ups (7)

'Year	'Championship	'Opponent in Final	'Score in Final
1975	Australian Open	John Newcombe	7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
1975	Wimbledon	Arthur Ashe	6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
1975	U.S. Open	Manuel Orantes	6-4, 6-3, 6-3
1977	Wimbledon (2)	Björn Borg	3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
1977	U.S. Open (2)	Guillermo Vilas	2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-0
1978	Wimbledon (3)	Björn Borg	6-2, 6-2, 6-3
1984	Wimbledon (4)	John McEnroe	6-1, 6-1, 6-2

Grand Slam results

★ Australian Open

★
★ 'Singles champion: 1974'

★
★ Singles runner-up: 1975

★ Wimbledon

★
★ 'Singles champion: 1974, 1982'

★
★ Singles runner-up: 1975, 1977, 1978, 1984

★
★ 'Men's Doubles champion: 1973'

★ U.S. Open

★
★ 'Singles champion: 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983'

★
★ Singles runner-up: 1975, 1977

★
★ 'Men's Doubles champion: 1975'

Singles record

★ '1222-269' (record of ATP events Singles wins) #1 most all-time in ATP Wins

Career singles titles (138) and runner-ups (54)

'' 105 titles are registered in the ATP Web site, 4 titles in the ATP Players' Guide, and 29 are not listed in any ATP Statistics''

Singles titles listed by the Association of Tennis Professionals--ATP (109), 105 in the Web site and 4 others in the Players' Guide

★
★ ATP Web site non-listed tournaments

'No.'	'Date'	'Tournament'	'Surface'	'Opponent in the final'	'Score'
1.	1972	Jacksonville, USA	Hard (i)	Clark Graebner	7-5, 6-4
2.	1972	★ Roanoke, USA	Hard (i)	Vladimír Zedník	6-4, 7-6
3.	1972	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	John Paish	6-2, 6-3
4.	1972	Columbus, USA	Hard	Andrew Pattison	7-5, 6-3, 7-5
5.	1972	Cincinnati, USA	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6-3, 6-3
6.	1972	Albany, USA	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	6-2, 7-6
7.	1973	Baltimore, USA	Hard (i)	Sandy Mayer	6-4, 7-5
8.	1973	Roanoke, USA	Hard (i)	Ian Fletcher	6-2, 6-3
9.	1973	Salt Lake City, USA	Hard (i)	Paul Gerken	6-1, 6-2
10.	1973	Salisbury, USA	Hard (i)	Karl Meiler	7-6, 7-6, 6-3
11.	1973	Hampton, USA	Hard (i)	Ilie Năstase	4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
12.	1973	Paramus, USA	Hard (i)	Clark Graebner	6-1, 6-2
13.	1973	Boston, USA	Hard	Arthur Ashe	6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
14.	1973	Columbus, USA	Hard	Charlie Pasarell	3-6, 6-3, 6-3
15.	1973	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Tom Okker	7-5, 7-6
16.	1973	Quebec, Canada	Carpet	Marty Riessen	6-1, 6-4, 6-7, 6-0
17.	1973	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Arthur Ashe	6-4, 7-6, 6-3
18.	1974	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Phil Dent	7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
19.	1974	Roanoke, USA	Hard (i)	Karl Meiler	6-4, 6-3
20.	1974	Little Rock, USA	Carpet	Karl Meiler	6-2, 6-1
21.	1974	Birmingham, USA	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	7-5, 6-3
22.	1974	Salisbury, USA	Carpet	Frew McMillan	6-4, 7-5, 6-3
23.	1974	Hampton, USA	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6-4, 6-4
24.	1974	Salt Lake City, USA	Carpet	Vitas Gerulaitis	4-6, 7-6, 6-3
25.	1974	Tempe, USA	Hard	Vijay Amritraj	6-2, 6-3
26.	1974	★ Manchester, England	Grass	Mike Collins	13-11, 6-2
27.	1974	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Ken Rosewall	6-1, 6-1, 6-4
28.	1974	Indianapolis, USA	Clay	Björn Borg	5-7, 6-3, 6-4
29.	1974	U.S. Open, New York	Grass	Ken Rosewall	6-1, 6-0, 6-1
30.	1974	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Harold Solomon	6-3, 6-1
31.	1974	London, England - Dewar Cup	Carpet	Brian Gottfried	6-2, 7-6
32.	1974	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Arthur Ashe	7-6, 6-3, 6-1
33.	1975	Nassau, Bahamas	Hard	Karl Meiler	6-0, 6-2
34.	1975	Birmingham, USA	Carpet	Billy Martin	6-4, 6-3
35.	1975	Salisbury, USA	Carpet	Vitas Gerulaitis	5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
36.	1975	Boca Raton, USA	Hard	Jurgen Fassbender	6-4, 6-2
37.	1975	Hampton, USA	Carpet	Jan Kodeš	3-6, 6-3, 6-0
38.	1975	Denver WCT, USA	Carpet	Brian Gottfried	6-3, 6-4
39.	1975	North Conway, USA	Clay	Ken Rosewall	6-2, 6-2
40.	1975	Hamilton, Bermuda	Clay	Vitas Gerulaitis	6-1, 6-4
41.	1975	Maui, USA	Hard	Sandy Mayer	6-1, 6-0
42.	1976	Birmingham, USA	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	6-4, 3-6, 6-1
43.	1976	Philadelphia WCT, USA	Carpet	Björn Borg	7-6, 6-4, 6-0
44.	1976	Hampton, USA	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6-2, 6-2, 6-2
45.	1976	Palm Springs, USA	Hard	Roscoe Tanner	6-4, 6-4
46.	1976	Denver WCT, USA	Carpet	Ross Case	7-6, 6-2
47.	1976	Las Vegas, USA	Hard	Ken Rosewall	6-1, 6-3
48.	1976	Washington D.C., USA	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	6-2, 6-4
49.	1976	North Conway, USA	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	7-6, 4-6, 6-3
50.	1976	Indianapolis, USA	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6-2, 6-4
51.	1976	U.S. Open, New York	Clay	Björn Borg	6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4
52.	1976	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet	Frew McMillan	6-2, 6-3
53.	1976	Wembley, England	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	3-6, 7-6, 6-4
54.	1977	Birmingham WCT, USA	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	6-3, 6-3
55.	1977	St. Louis WCT, USA	Carpet	John Alexander	7-6, 6-2
56.	1977	Las Vegas, USA	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	6-4, 5-7, 6-2
57.	1977	Dallas WCT Finals, USA	Carpet	Dick Stockton	6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
58.	1977	Maui, USA	Hard	Brian Gottfried	6-2, 6-0
59.	1977	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Ken Rosewall	7-5, 6-4, 6-2
60.	1977	★ Las Vegas, USA - WCT Challenge Cup	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	6-2, 5-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-5
61.	1977	Colgate Masters, New York	Carpet	Björn Borg	6-4, 1-6, 6-4
62.	1978	Philadelphia WCT, USA	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	6-2, 6-4, 6-3
63.	1978	Denver, USA	Carpet	Stan Smith	6-2, 7-6
64.	1978	Memphis, USA	Carpet	Tim Gullikson	7-6, 6-3
65.	1978	Rotterdam WCT, Netherlands	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	7-5, 7-5
66.	1978	Birmingham, England	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	6-3, 6-1, 6-2
67.	1978	Washington D.C., USA	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	7-5, 7-5
68.	1978	Indianapolis, USA	Clay	José Higueras	7-5, 6-1
69.	1978	Stowe, USA	Hard	Tim Gullikson	6-2, 6-3
70.	1978	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Björn Borg	6-4, 6-2, 6-2
71.	1978	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Geoff Masters	6-0, 6-0, 6-4
72.	1979	Birmingham, USA	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	6-2, 3-6, 7-5
73.	1979	Philadelphia, USA	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6-3, 6-4, 6-1
74.	1979	★ Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico - WCT Tournament of Champions	Hard	Vitas Gerulaitis	6-5, 6-0, 6-4
75.	1979	Memphis, USA	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6-4, 5-7, 6-3
76.	1979	Tulsa, USA	Hard (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6-7, 7-5, 6-1
77.	1979	Indianapolis, USA	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6-1, 2-6, 6-4
78.	1979	Stowe, USA	Hard	Mike Cahill	6-0, 6-1
79.	1979	Hong Kong	Hard	Pat Dupre	7-5, 6-3, 6-1
80.	1980	Birmingham, USA	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	6-3, 6-2
81.	1980	Philadelphia, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
82.	1980	Dallas WCT Finals, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	2-6, 7-6, 6-1, 6-2
83.	1980	North Conway, USA	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	6-3, 5-7, 6-1
84.	1980	Canton, Republic of China	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	6-2, 6-4
85.	1980	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Tom Gullikson	6-1, 6-2
86.	1981	La Quinta, USA	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 7-6
87.	1981	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Brian Gottfried	6-2, 6-4, 6-3
88.	1981	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Gene Mayer	6-1, 2-6, 6-2
89.	1981	Wembley, England	Carpet	John McEnroe	3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
90.	1982	Monterrey, Mexico	Carpet	Johan Kriek	6-2, 3-6, 6-3
91.	1982	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Mel Purcell	6-2, 6-1
92.	1982	Las Vegas, USA	Hard	Gene Mayer	5-2, ret.
93.	1982	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	John McEnroe	7-5, 6-3
94.	1982	Wimbledon, London	Grass	John McEnroe	3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
95.	1982	Columbus, USA	Hard	Brian Gottfried	7-5, 6-0
96.	1982	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
97.	1983	Memphis, USA	Carpet	Gene Mayer	7-5, 6-0
98.	1983	Las Vegas, USA	Hard	Mark Edmondson	7-6, 6-1
99.	1983	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	John McEnroe	6-3, 6-3
100.	1983	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-0
101.	1984	Memphis, USA	Carpet	Henri Leconte	6-3, 4-6, 7-5
102.	1984	La Quinta, USA	Hard	Yannick Noah	6-2, 6-7, 6-3
103.	1984	Boca West, USA	Hard	Johan Kriek	7-5, 6-4
104.	1984	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Eliot Teltscher	6-4, 4-6, 6-4
105.	1984	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	6-4, 3-6, 6-0
106.	1988	Washington D.C., USA	Hard	Andrés Gómez	6-1, 6-4
107.	1988	Toulouse, France	Carpet	Andrei Chesnokov	6-2, 6-0
108.	1989	Toulouse, France	Carpet	John McEnroe	6-3, 6-3
109.	1989	Tel-Aviv, Israel	Hard	Gilad Bloom	2-6, 6-2, 6-1

Singles runner-ups (54), only 49 are listed by the Association of Tennis Professionals

★
★ - ATP non-listed tournaments

★
★
★ - Four-men invitational tournament not bringing ATP-ranking points, usually considered exhibition, and not counted as official by the ATP but so-called "Pepsi Grand Slam" is in ATP statistic included in the titles and runner-up listings (it was an ITF tournament)

'No.'	'Date'	'Tournament'	'Surface'	'Opponent in the final'	'Score'
1.	1971	Columbus, USA	Hard	Tom Gorman	6-7, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
2.	1971	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Richard Pancho Gonzales	3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3.	1972	Baltimore, USA	Hard	Ilie Năstase	1-6, 6-4, 7-6
4.	1972	Washington D.C., USA	Carpet	Stan Smith	4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
5.	1972	Indianapolis, USA	Clay	Bob Hewitt	7-6, 6-1, 6-2
6.	1973	Omaha, USA	Hard (i)	Ilie Năstase	5-0, ret.
7.	1973	Bretton Woods, USA	Clay	Vijay Amritraj	7-5, 2-6, 7-5
8.	1974	Omaha, USA	Other	Karl Meiler	6-3, 1-6, 6-3
9.	1974	South Orange, USA	Hard	Alex Metreveli	DEF
10.	1975	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	John Newcombe	7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6
11.	1975	New York, USA	Indoor	Vitas Gerulaitis	DEF
12.	1975	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Arthur Ashe	6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
13.	1975	U.S. Open, New York	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6-4, 6-3, 6-3
14.	1975	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Adriano Panatta	6-4, 6-3
15.	1975	London, England	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	1-6, 6-1, 7-5
16.	1976	Salisbury, USA	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6-2, 6-3, 7-6
17.	1976	La Costa, USA	Hard	Ilie Năstase	4-6, 6-0, 6-1
18.	1976	★ Nottingham, England	Grass	Ilie Năstase	div'd (weather)
19.	1977	Philadelphia WCT, USA	Carpet	Dick Stockton	3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
20.	1977	Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada	Carpet	Dick Stockton	5-6, ret.
21.	1977	★ Las Vegas, USA - WCT Challenge Cup	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5
22.	1977	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Björn Borg	3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
23.	1977	★ ★ Boca Raton, USA - Pepsi Grand Slam	Clay	Björn Borg	6-4, 5-7, 6-3
24.	1977	Indianapolis, USA	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6-1, 6-3
25.	1977	U.S. Open, New York	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	2-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-0
26.	1978	★ ★ Boca Raton, USA - Pepsi Grand Slam	Clay	Björn Borg	7-6, 3-6, 6-1
27.	1978	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Björn Borg	6-2, 6-2, 6-3
28.	1979	★ ★ Boca Raton, USA - Pepsi Grand Slam	Hard	Björn Borg	6-2, 6-3
29.	1979	Las Vegas, USA	Hard	Björn Borg	6-3, 6-2
30.	1979	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Björn Borg	6-2, 6-2
31.	1979	★ Montreal, Canada - WCT Challenge Cup	Carpet	Björn Borg	6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
32.	1980	Memphis, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	7-6, 7-6
33.	1980	San José, Costa Rica	Hard	José Luis Clerc	4-6, 2-6, ret.
34.	1981	★ Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	div'd (weather)
35.	1981	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Peter McNamara	7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
36.	1982	Philadelphia, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	6-3, 6-3, 6-1
37.	1982	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Guillermo Vilas	0-6, 6-2, 6-4
38.	1982	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Guillermo Vilas	6-3, 6-3
39.	1982	San Francisco, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	6-1, 6-3
40.	1983	Wembley, England	Carpet	John McEnroe	7-5, 6-1, 6-4
41.	1984	★ Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	6-0, 1-0 div'd - match cancelled (bomb threat)
42.	1984	Dallas WCT, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	6-1, 6-2, 6-3
43.	1984	Wimbledon, London	Grass	John McEnroe	6-1, 6-1, 6-2
44.	1985	Ft. Myers, USA	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 6-2
45.	1985	Chicago, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	walkover
46.	1986	Ft. Myers, USA	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-2, 6-0
47.	1986	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Tim Mayotte	6-4, 2-1, ret.
48.	1986	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Mats Wilander	6-4, 6-1
49.	1986	San Francisco, USA	Carpet	John McEnroe	7-6, 6-3
50.	1987	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	6-3, 2-1, ret.
51.	1987	Orlando, USA	Hard	Christo Van Rensburg	6-3, 3-6, 6-1
52.	1987	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Boris Becker	6-7, 6-3, 6-4
53.	1988	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Yannick Noah	4-4, ret.
54.	1988	Key Biscayne, USA	Hard	Mats Wilander	6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Other (non-ATP, exhibition/invitational and special events) singles titles - draw at least eight players (18)

Here are Connors' tournament titles that are not included in the statistics on the Association of Tennis Professionals Web site. These mainly are special events like invitational tournaments and exhibitions.

Year	Date	Tournament	Surface	Prize Money	Final Opponent	Final Result	Winners Prize
1971		Jacksonville	Carpet		Clark Graebner
1972	Aug 14-20	Ocean City			Herb Fitzgibbon	6-3 6-2
1978	June 5-10	Beckenham - Kentish Times Tennis Week	Grass		Stan Smith	9-8 6-3
1978	Nov 21-26	Tokyo - Gunze Invitational	Carpet		Ilie Nastase	6-2 6-4
1979	Sept 28-30	Asuncion - Boqueron International	Clay		Guillermo Vilas	7-5 6-3
1979	Oct 1-5	Buenos Aires	Clay		Victor Pecci	6-2 1-6 6-2
1980	Aug 4-10	Frejus - 8-men Round Robin	Hard		Roscoe Tanner	6-0 6-7 6-4
1980	Oct 8-12	Melbourne - Mazda Challenge	Carpet		Gene Mayer	1-6 6-2 6-0 7-5
1982	Jan 6-11	Rosemont - Michelob Light Challenge of Champions	Carpet	$310,000	John McEnroe	6-7 7-5 6-7 7-5 6-4
1982	Sept 29-Oct 3	Montreal - Molson Light Challenge Cup	Hard	$250,000	Bjorn Borg	6-4 6-3	$80,000
1982	Dec 17-19	North Miami Beach - Nastase-Hamptons Invitational	Hard	$305,000	Brian Teacher	6-2 6-2	$80,000
1983	Feb 8-13	Toronto - Molson Challenge	Carpet		Jose Higueras	6-2 6-0 5-7 6-0
1983	July 28-31	Beaver Creek - Vail Beaver Creek Classic	Hard		Mats Wilander	7-6 6-2
1983	Aug 3-7	Newport Beach - High Stakes	Hard	$300,000	Tim Mayotte	6-3 6-4 6-2
1983	Dec 14-20	North Miami Beach - Nastase-Hamptons Invitational	Hard	$305,000	Ivan Lendl	6-3 7-6 6-1	$90,000
1984	Jan 3-8	Rosemont - Lite Challenge of Champions	Carpet	$250,000	Andres Gomez	6-3 6-2 6-1
1985	July 30-Aug 4	Stowe	Hard		Gene Mayer	2-6 6-3 6-4
1988	April 21-24	Tulsa	Hard		Mel Purcell	6-3 6-3

Other (non-ATP, exhibition/invitational and special events) singles titles - draw less than eight players (11)

Year	Date	Tournament	Surface	Final Opponent	Final Result	Winners Prize
1972		Nottingham - 4-men invitational
1978	September 22-24	Buenos Aires - 4-men invitational		Bjorn Borg	5-7 6-3 6-3
1979	September 15-16	Rio de Janeiro - 4-men invitational		Guillermo Vilas	6-3 6-4 6-3
1980	March 6-7	Munich - 4-men invitational	Carpet	Vitas Gerulaitis	6-1 6-7 6-4
1980	April 7-8	Tokyo - Suntory Cup	Carpet	John McEnroe	7-5 6-3
1981	April 11-12	Tokyo - Suntory Cup	Carpet	John McEnroe	6-4 7-6
1982	July 22-24	Industry Hills - $100,000 4-men invitational	Hard	Bjorn Borg	5-7 6-2 6-2 6-7 6-2	$50,000
1983	April 10-11	Tokyo - Suntory Cup	Carpet	Bjorn Borg	6-3 6-4
1983	July 8-10	Sun City - Round Robin Bophuthatswana	Hard	Ivan Lendl	7-5 7-6	$400,000
1986	April 19-20	Tokyo - Suntory Cup	Carpet	Mats Wilander	6-4 6-0
1989	May 5-7	Nîmes		Anders Jarryd	6-2 6-3

Singles performance time line

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1991	1992	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	'W'	F	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1 / 2
French Open	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	SF	SF	QF	QF	QF	SF	SF	A	QF	A	2R	3R	1R	0 / 13
Wimbledon	A	1R	QF	QF	'W'	F	QF	F	F	SF	SF	SF	'W'	4R	F	SF	1R	SF	4R	2R	3R	1R	2 / 21
US Open	1R	2R	1R	QF	'W'	F	'W'	F	'W'	SF	SF	SF	'W'	'W'	SF	SF	3R	SF	QF	QF	SF	2R	5 / 22
Grand Slam SR	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	3 / 3	0 / 3	1 / 2	0 / 2	1 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	2 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	8 / 58

236/48

Sources

The following are the sources for the information that is not on the Association of Tennis Professionals Web site:

★ Michel Sutter, ''Vainqueurs Winners 1946-2003'', Paris 2003. Sutter has attempted to list all tournaments meeting his criteria for selection beginning with 1946 and ending in the fall of 1991. For each tournament, he has indicated the city, the date of the final, the winner, the runner-up, and the score of the final. A tournament is included in his list if: (1), the draw for the tournament included at least eight players (with a few exceptions, such as the Pepsi Grand Slam tournaments in the second half of the 1970s); and (2), the level of the tournaments was at least equal to the present-day challenger tournaments. Sutter's book probably is the most exhaustive source of tennis tournament information since World War II, even though some professional tournaments held before the start of the open era are missing. Later, Sutter issued a second edition of his book, with only the players, their wins, and years for the period of 1946 through April 27, 2003.

★ John Barrett, editor, ''World of Tennis Yearbooks'', London from 1976 through 1983.

External links

★

★ International Tennis Hall of Fame profile

★ Official Wimbledon website profile

★ BBC profile

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