Jimmy Connors is my favorite player. He is amazing.

Before Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Agassi, there was Connors. I grew up watching him and i loved his game so much I used the T2000 racket for years. The guy was phenomenal. He played every point as if it was match point. And he had attitude, and guts. I was at Wimbledon 187 and watched his match against Mikel Pernfors. Connors was 2 games from defeat and mounted arguably the greatest comeback I had ever witnessed. It was just mind blowing. One of the few players who could do it all. Totally underrated. His never say die attitude is so lacking in this modern game of robots these days (apart from Federer). Connors, thank you for all the memories. PS: The only man to win the US open on 3 different surfaces. A feat that will never be broken.

I have just been discovering Connors over the last few weeks. It's criminal how underrated he is in the GOAT debate. The guy held virtually every record before the Big Three started overtaking him--and still holds records for longevity that they haven't even come close to. Plus his game is one of the most fluid and beautiful of all time. Like Laver, it's a shame there are so few videos of him in his prime that survive!

Playing that kind of flat tennis with a Wilson T-2000 is simply amazing. Because of those two things, he may be the best pure ball striker the game has ever seen. Anybody ever try to hit with that racquet? Incredibly small sweet spot--no forgiving mishits like Borg would get (topspin would often allow the ball to drop in). If Connors mishit a shot it was over. He was one of the true greats of tennis.

The Connors Backhand.. one of the greatest strokes in history!

I met Jimmy Connors at a seniors event in Ohio. He was in line for some food or water. We talked for a while about rackets. He was one of the nicest, coolest people I have ever met.

Connors was an incredible champion and competitor

Jimmy Connors is without a doubt one of the greatest tennis champions of all time. His rivalry with Borg and McEnroe is not unlike our current Big 3.

Jimmy Connors is a true legend. He was at the top during the best era for the men's game in my opinion. Nobody was more entertaining or exciting to watch than him.

Connors was and still is my all time favorite player. He brought it every match.

Jimmy Connors was banned from the French Open in 1974, that's true. But then he decided himself not to play there from 1975 to 1978. Furthermore, he did *not* play his forehand with much topspin. It was actually also flat, with just a little topspin or underspin at times. His forehand just wasn't as leathal as his backhand, and because of the little margin for error due to the absence of topspin, he sometimes made unforced errors with his forehand, whereas his backhand seldom produced an unforced error. Regarding his amazing return of serve, it should also be noted that he broke Pete Sampras' serve more often than most players (even though he was almost 40 years old when he faced Sampras in 1992).

My favourite tennis player ever since I started watching tennis as a kid around 1979/80. Loved his never say die attitude.

One of my favourite players of all time. I remember well as a 17yr old in 1987, leaving home for work during the Wimbledon fortnight with Connors trailing Penfors 6-1, 6-1, 4-1. It was all over - who could come back from that? Just one man, apparently. Connors eventually lost to the champion (Pat Cash) that year in the semis but that 'never say die' attitude of his really spoke to me. Just incase his run at the 91 USO wasn't unbelievable enough...😉

The T-2000 wasn't graphite. It was metal and had the hitting area of a dime!

I saw Connors and McEnroe play an exhibition at Moody Coliseum in Dallas back in the late 90's. Even though both players had long retired from the tour, they still possessed quality shot making skills. On that night McEnroe had his serve clicking, but Jimmy was timing his returns well. They slugged out a best of three sets match, and on this night it was McEnroe coming out victorious. In the grand scheme of things it was a meaningless match, but both players gave it their all and the house was rocking. It was then I realized that the venue and the event didn't matter. Whenever Connors and McEnroe were on the same court, sparks were going to fly. I feel fortunate that I had a chance to witness both players while they still were able to compete at an extremely high level.

nice tribute to connor,s,i,ll never forget his 1991 run to the U s open semi's I was glued to everymatch

As a youngster Connors with his playing style; his intensity and 100% effortbess my tennis hero. He hit the ball so flat and low he really gave himself such little room for error. The way he toughed out every point reminded me of fighter holding a tennis racquet. Great days!

Can you do one of these for Lendl next?🙏

Pure tennis class

Thanks for making this video. It shows exactly why Jimbo was my childhood hero, and still is today..!! A few errors in yr images like at the end a mention of Lendl with a picture of Andy Murray but I'll let you off for that hahah! J S Connors. Legend. GOAT. 🌠🎾🌠🎾🌠

Great player. His serve lacked the power of many of his rivals which meant he rarely won cheap points with it but he definitely advanced the game by helping popularise the double handed backhand which had only been used by a minority of players up until that time.

The most fierce,determined, never give up player,I've ever seen!!

Fact is; after Wilson ceased production of the T-2000, he bought every one of them off the suppliers... That's how important the 'Renee Lacoste' all steel design meant to him...

Connors won 109 Tournaments including 8 Majors. He possessed great court instincts, superb ground strokes and the best service return ever. Truly 1 of the all time great players!

And Cooners did all this using a terrible racquet and unlike the players today he had no entourage of personal trainers, mental gurus, nutritionists, life coaches etc. Also no performance enhacing drugs which we know all the big players now use to some extent. And his game allowedvery little room for error which shows how great and talented he really was

Back then players had personality and flare. Their games were very different from each other. We have a little of that coming back today. But sports in the 70's was way more interesting.

I had one of the lousiest backhands when I began playing. When I saw Connors hit his two handed backhand , everything changed. I bought and always used the T-2000 & T-3000. It did have a small sweet spot but It made you more disciplined in your shots. He was my favorite player!

Jimbo brought the crowds to the matches and the tennis revolution of the 1970s. The spectators got so involved, they felt as if they were on the court with Jimmy. He stirred the crowds at the French and US Open 1991 like one ever has. The most exciting, gutsiest and inspirational player of all time.

the Wilson T2000 was made of steel. not graphite...

I also saw Jimmy in team tennis, when played for the Baltimore Banners, they played the Detroit Loves, at Cobo Hall, back in 73'. Connors played Phil Dent, as i recalled, and won in 8 game pro set. I remember a really weird moment, some guy in stands..yelled, ' hey Jimmy, where's Crissie..? And Connors, flicked him the finger..!

Actually he didn't retire from tennis in the mid 1990s. He went on to spearhead the Nuvene tennis circuit, and won at least 36 of those titles.

One heck of a player!

Connors did not have a topspin forehand. lt was flat too flay and it probably cost him a few majors.

Sin lugar a dudas súper jugador,un espectáculo para la historia del tenis,su aporte a este deporte es insuperable.

We all bought the T-2000 because of Jimmy. Obviously when you win the most titles and matches of any male in your sport, you are one of the greatest. He was really the guy who made tennis less of a country club sport. It was the 70s when tennis started to bring in big money and he was a huge part of that.

Até hoje eu me pergunto o que pode ter havido com ele em 1979? Infelizmente precisou esperar 79, 80, 81 até voltar a vencer um torneio de Grand Sland em 82. É o meu ídolo no esporte. .

I consider Jimmy Connors among the top 5 players of all time because I put him above Borg and McEnroe during that 70's - 80's era. Jimmy was a little past his prime when those two hit theirs and he still beat them regularly until the very late 70's. Then he did what neither Borg or McEnroe ever did when he won Wimbledon and the US Open to regain #1 in 1982, well past his prime youth and again became the best player in the world. He beat McEnroe at Wimbledon that year, but few people realize he also beat John at the Queen's Club tournament right before Wimbledon in both '82 & '83. He overwhelmed Lendl at the Open in both '82 & '83 with a superior game and a much tougher mentality. I remember the first few games of the '82 final after Lendl had destroyed opponents with his overpowering forehand throughout the tournament and the opinion was to beat Lendl by going to his backhand side. Connors instead goes right after Lendl's forehand with his two-hander and probably wins the match at that point thru sheer intimidation. My all-time favorite Connors match was the 1978 US Open final when he dismantled Borg in straight sets. Some blamed the loss on Borg's blistered thumb. Ridiculous. The win was so dominant, it was obvious Jimmy was just the better player. Most fans don't remember that Connors beat him again weeks after the '78 Open in another tournament well after Borg's blister had healed. Funny how Connors had lost the Wimbledon final in '77 to Borg playing with a BROKEN thumb in a metal splint and took him all the way to 4-4 in the 5th set with that injury. A broken thumb is a little more serious than a blister, but the press ignored the disadvantage it created. I cannot tell you the level of enjoyment I got from watching Jimmy Connors play tennis. I was able to see him in person a few times late in his career and never saw anyone hit the ball as perfectly as Jimmy did. Between his textbook footwork and his hand-eye timing, he was simply beautiful to watch.

I loved how Connors used his groundstrokes to open the court to get high easy putaways.

He is synonymous with the cool yellow racquet too!

I can't think of any other player or person for that matter who thrived so much on pressure. He soaked up pressure better than anyone, and was able to come through on so many critical points. In his US Open match with Adriano Panatta he had made one of his incredible down the line winners, and had match point on Panatta's service, and the poor guy double faulted to lose the match. I was there, and I can still recall Panatta grabbing JC at the net, and hugging him for pulling it out. Awesome day that was.

Century Tennis Player!

An all time great, no doubt.

Still the holder of most singles ATP titles to the date. So I guess he wasn't that bad of player, was he? 😜

Conners was ahead of his time. Two handed backhand,left handers were still awkward to play against,and a huge heart. He played top level tennis well into his 40s. He also played a lot of very talented players at that time. And he was a real character, very funny.

At the 1991 US Open Semi he was 39 years old, and he continued playing for another 4.

my mt Rushmore...... of favorites...Fed, Djoker, Pete, Jimbo.

I was 4 when I first saw Connors play against Borg in Wimbledon on TV. My mom said I wanted to “play like Jimmy”

1975 was terrible for Connors, he reached 3 GS finals and lost them all: AO (against Newcombe), Wimbledon (against Ashe) and the USOpen (against Morantes). His rivals weren´t the favorites, at all. After 1974 success, IMHO, Connors turned cocky in 1975, as you can see if you watch those complete matches. After those defeats, Connors became the warrior we all know.

His mother's name is Gloria Connors, not Glorida Connora.

Agreed. The racquet shown is not a Wilson T-2000. That is a Slazenger racquet he played with at the end of his career.

As good as anyone who ever played. I've watched tennis since the 60s. One brilliant competitor who could beat anyone in his day and there were plenty of all time greats in his day.

Do you realise you used a picture of Shia Lebeouf in this video? He played McEnroe in Borg vs McEnroe. Also, Lendl didn't half look like Andy Murray back in the day, did he? Other than that, great video. I never new Connors got banned from the French Open and only participated at the Australian Open twice.

Although the last 3 number 1 players in the world all won so many more grand slam titles than anyone else making it seem like they are the greatest ever, all 3 didn't have serious competition like the golden age of when simultaneously there was Connors, McEnroe and Borg and add in Lendl. Nothing like it since. And there were others sprinkled in whereas now, who can name anyone other than the top guy, because there isn't. there hasn't been a serious rivalry in decades. You had 3 all time greats overlapping and since then none.

Pretty good assessment of Jimmy Connor's legacy, but you need to be consistent with your research and images. The T-200 racquet he used was not the one shown in your video, as was not the pictures of John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl, whom you confused with actor Shia LeBouf and Andy Murray!

Connors didn't use semiwestern grep, and didn't hit topspin forehand. It was more of a flat or even sidespin shot. Nevertheless, one of the great players.

A player of his time. A gusty, courageous fighter, who never knew when he was beaten. But, not one of the all-time greats. He only won eight grand slams. And, like so many others - Becker, McEnroe and Sampras, never won the French Open !

Jimmy Connor started the two hands backhand era!

I played with a T2000 because Connors did. Eventually I had to take it to a specialist just to get it strung.

Maybe I’m just in a bad mood, but I found the radical dissociation of image and audio a big distraction here.

Do one of this for Gustavo Kuerten

Quality over quantity. Drill down into his 109 ATP championships: Connors beating Borg in a grand slam final on clay, McEnroe in a G/S final on grass & Lendl in a G/S final on hard crt -all in their prime & all considered the greatest on those surfaces at the time-shows a level of mastery not duplicated.

Connors reminded me very much of Nadal. Both lefties and an indomitable fighting spirit. There was a big three during those times: as I said Connors reminded me of Nadal, McEnroe of Federer and Djokovic is the Bjorn Borg of their times. McEnroe had the greater skill set and serve, just like Federer and Djokovic and Borg were both defensive retrievers for the most part. Then came Lendl.

I was a big Connors fan.

Final Queen's 1982 vs Mac Enroe: Connors played usually serve and volley

Watch his matches ...he was player only for 70 -ties . Respect for his fighting spirit .

Jimmy Connors is the reason I got into tennis. Prior to him, tennis was this genteel, country club game. He made it macho, grunting, wielding his T-2000 like a sword and, okay, misbehaving, sometimes to a cringe level. But tennis became "cool". I think the sport needed a "bad boy" (Okay, Nastase was one too). He may not be the best of all time but, as Mary Carillo always said, he might be the most important.

9:17 - says LENDL but shows picture of MURRAY (other than that: nicely done!)

9:18 Murray on Lendl's part?

At 3:23 the kid on the photo is not Connors in my opinion, as the man beside him looks a lot like B. Borg, and has Borg written on his shirt. Maybe I'm wrong but it would be "Back in the future" if an adult B. Borg was on the same photo as a Jimmy Connors being a kid 😀

"Longevous" is a word. Wow.

Lots of little and not so little mistakes throughout the video. 2:40 is not McEnroe. It's Shia Lebeouf playing McEnroe in a movie. You refer to several matches early in his career but use footage from his 91 USO run. Footage exists of the matches you're talking about. Do your homework.

How good was Connors? He won 109 tournaments which shows his longevity BUT some of these tournaments were not of todays ATP standards and many top players would not have deemed worthy of entering. I would place him quite a bit lower than Borg and a bit lower than McEnroe and Lendl.

At 1:00 in the video you say that Connors was able to hit the ball flat rather than with spin because he hit on the rise rather than on the fall. That makes no sense. The height and spin of the ball are the same either way.

The only player to win theU.S. Open on three different surfaces. Grass, Har Tru, and Hard Court.

There has never been any player whos will to win was bigger.

Jimmy was very longevous

Actually his grip wasn't semi-western. It was continental.

connors unfortuantely could not win more slams as he had dealt with all time young legendary rivals for most of his career, those days playing against young legendary rivals is not easy at all.

He should have gotten rid of the T-2000 much earlier and only God knows why he only played with the PS85 for only a few months after helping designing it...

I dont see him as overlooked idk. Him, McEnroe, and many others were brilliant with rackets they had to work with.

9:18 That's Murray, not Lendl?

"...trailing only Djokovic, Federer, Sampras and Lendl..." and at Lendl you show the picture of Andy Murray...HAHAHAHA!!!!!

You seem to be suggesting that jimmy connors is younger than bjorg (given how you say jimmy connors emerged while borg was on the circuit and how you show a photo of borg with young agassi when talking about connors' junior career). This is not true; bjorg is a lot younger.

9:17 the guy looks vaguely familiar but is not Lendl.

He was better than anyone watching this video and anyone they know.

I’m thinking he is the only player to win the US Open on 3 different surfaces.

2:58 that is *NOT* a Wilson T2000 .... 3:32 _THAT_ is a T2000

He used a frying pan (the t2000) and won more than anyone.

He was a great player, one of the best, but he won a lot of low rated tournaments... that is the big difference with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer...

How good was Jim Courier ?

Ask Aaron Krickstein…

So good that absolutely no one has ever won as many tournaments as Jimbo.

3:23 what is this photo? Connors is older than Borg.😂 That's Agassi with Borg. 🤣

Connors absolutely did not have a semi-western grip.

Ahh yeah!

9:17 is murray not Lendl....c'mon man!

Connors forehand was hit with lots of topspin? really?

He was good enough

His forehand was ultra flat not topspin this video is flatout wrong saying his forehand was topspin

You can't compare European clay to US clay. The clay in the US is much faster.