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Jimbo: Jimmy Connors No. 1 ranking: 29th July 1974 Temperamental, but prodigiously talented - "the one and only James Scott Connors," as his agent Bill Riordin once boasted - spanned the generations turning from feisty youth to respected elder on the professional tour.
He won two Wimbledon (1974, 1982) and one Australian Open (1974) crowns, but the U.S. Open was his speciality. In a career, which spanned three decades from 1972 to 1993, he collected 109 singles titles, from 401 tournaments played with a match record of 1,337 wins to 285 losses.
Connors holds the distinction at the U.S. Open of winning on three different surfaces: grass (1974), clay (1976) at Forest Hills, and hard (1978, 1982-83) at Flushing Meadow, appearing in five successive finals there between 1978-78. Always smaller than his contemporaries, his mother taught him the game from the age of two, using grit and determination, by becoming one of the game's mavericks in 1972, by refusing to join the Association of Tennis Professionals. He was banned from the French Open in 1974, meaning as the undisputed world number one he was unable to win the Grand Slam that year. He was world number one for four consecutive years from 1974-78, holding onto top spot for 159 straight weeks, amassing in 1974, 14 tournament victories winning 99 matches, losing just four. Connors seemed to delight in annoying fans and officials not only in the United States but also around the world, with his sometimes, vulgar on-court behaviour. He only played Davis Cup briefly in 1976, 1981 and 1984. He made a remarkable comeback in 1991 with a deteriorating left wrist injury to reach the semi-finals at the U.S. Open, at the age of 39, rising from No. 936 at the end of 1990 to a respectable 83 at the end of 1992. His career prize money totalled $8,641,040, ranking in the world's top ten 16 times between 1973 and 1988. Grand Slam Record Australian Open Singles winner 1974; Singles finalist 1975 Wimbledon Singles winner 1974, 1982; Singles finalist 1975, 1977-78, 1984; Doubles winner 1973 U.S. Open Singles winner 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982-83; Singles finalist 1975, 1977; Doubles winner 1975 Tournament Record (inc. Davis Cup) U.S. Inter-collegiate Singles winner 1971 Italian Open Doubles finalist 1975 United States Davis Cup team member 1976,
1981, 1984; losing side 1984
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