Former professional basketball player, Jimmy Connors was a one-time World No. 1 player. Jimmy is described as a skilled player who loved to play tennis right from his childhood days and coupled with the fact that his mum was also a former tennis player, he had the right platform to horn his skills.
Jimmy who was also a very passionate player opted out of college to pursue his dreams and looking back now, former World no.1 tennis player, by all means, took the right step as his efforts in the sports got him the well deserved international recognition.
Jimmy Connors Bio
Jimmy Connors is a former tennis player born with the full name James Scott Connors on the 2nd of September 1952 in the East of St. Louis, Illinois. His parents are James Sr. and Gloria Connors but he was raised by his grandmother Bertha Thompson and his mum Gloria, a former professional tennis player who would clear a portion of land in their compound to build a training court for her son. At age nine, he participated in the Under 11 US Boys Championship and when he turned sixteen, he began to be trained by Pancho Segura.
He studied at the St. Phillip’s Grade School with his brother Johnny Corners before he proceeded to the University of California, Los Angles where he played tennis for one year, winning the NCAA singles title also achieving All-American status. He quit college after one year to pursue a professional career.
Professional Career
Jimmy Connors began his professional career in 1972 and won the Jacksonville Open, being his first tournament that same year. He was known as an independent person because he rejected being part of the Association of Tennis Professional, an organization that houses most male professional players, and decided to play in an independent tournament his manager Bill Riordan had organized. He overthrew Arthur Ashe in a five-set final, winning the 1973 Pro single, which was his first major title.
By the late 1970s, he had gotten to the pinnacle of his career, winning the US Open five times, the Wimbledon twice, one Australian Open, and recording in all, a total of eight Grand Slam singles championships. He was barred from playing in the French Open in 1974 because he was an active member of the World Team Tennis.
Throughout his career, Jimmy Connors played in the Australia Open twice and out of 21 tournaments he participated in, he won 15 of them. He was amongst the six men that won three or more grand slam titles in a year, including the likes of Rod Laver, Mats Wilander, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. He was in the finals of the US Open and Australian Open in 1975 but unfortunately, he did not record any victory.
In the subsequent year, he still maintained his ATP No. 1 ranking and was said to have won the best player of the year according to some tennis sources but he was not named by the ATP as they chose Björn Borg as their player of the year. In the following year, he lost to Borg in Wimbledon and was ranked 3rd by ATP and other tennis bodies.
Jimmy Connors witnessed a renewal of vigor in 1982 when he defeated John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl to win the Wimbledon and US Open respectively still maintaining his ATP No. 1 ranking. He finished that year as the best player of the year by ATP and other tennis bodies as he won the US Open and Wimbledon again even though he ranked No 2. In the subsequent year, he won the US Open for the fifth time and was ranked No. 3 player.
Other Works
After an active tennis career, Jimmy Connors ventured into sports commentary in 1990 with NBC-TV and made ran commentary in the French Open and Wimbledon tournaments from 2005 till 2007 alongside John McEnroe for BBC. He also ran the commentary for Tennis Channe in the 2009 US Open tournament and another for BBC in 2014 at Wimbledon.
Jimmy Connors also took up coaching roles in 2006 and he is said to have coached Andy Roddick in 2006, Roger Federer in 2008, and Maria Sharapova in 2013. Aside from his professional tennis career, Jimmy is also an author, and he has published a book titled “ The Outsider” which is an autobiography that won the British Sports Book Award in 2013.
Jimmy Connors’ Net Worth
Jimmy Connors has amassed a huge amount of money from his career as sources have it that he has an estimated net worth of more than $12 million.
Family: Wife & Children
Jimmy Connors started dating Chris Evert, an American professional tennis player in 1974 but the relationship ended one year after. The duo later reunited in 1976 but parted ways finally after two years. He subsequently accused Chris Evert of aborting their child. He then got involved with Marjorie Wallace, a former Miss World but the relationship didn’t last for quite long as they both parted ways after one year.
After two unsuccessful relationships, he got married to Patti McGuire, a Playboy Model in 1979 and has been with her ever since. The union is blessed with two children; a son Brett Corner and a daughter Aubrey Corner.
Height
Jimmy has a well-built athletic body figure that is complimented with his gigantesque height of 5 feet 10 inches or 178 cm.
