In the third profile in our series on the 26 players to rise to No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, ATPTour.com looks back on the career of Jimmy Connors. View Full List

First week at No. 1: 29 July 1974
Total weeks at No. 1: 268
Year-End No. 1s: 1974-78

As World No. 1
Jimmy Connors rose to No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time at the age of 21 on 29 July 1974, during the best year of his career. In that first stint, when he replaced Australia’s John Newcombe, he spent 160 weeks in top spot — a record for consecutive weeks that was not broken until 26 February 2007, in Roger Federer’s run of 237 straight weeks at No. 1 between 2 February 2004 and 17 August 2008. “There is only one No. 1,” says Connors. “It’s a lonely spot, but it has got the best view of all… Being No. 2 is like being No. 200.” In 1981, Connors, who had not been No. 1 since 9 July 1979, said,
“I’m working hard to be No. 1 in the world this year. I don’t want to hang around, if I can’t be the best in the world. As far as I’m concerned No. 1 is the only number, and for me not to think I can be No. 1 is ridiculous.” The American rose to top spot once more on 13 September 1981, and he concluded nine different periods at the summit with a three-week stint starting on 13 June 1983. He was ranked in the world’s year-end Top 10 on 16 occasions between 1973 and 1988, and his five year-end No. 1 equals those of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Only Pete Sampras (1993-98) has finished a season at the top on more occasions. 

Grand Slam Highlights
Connors made his major championship debut in 1970 at the US Open, where on 14 of 22 appearances he made the semi-finals or better. Between 1974 and 1985, the American never lost before the semi-finals, winning on five occasions (1974 on grass, 1976 on clay and in 1978, 1982-83 on hard courts) from seven finals. Beginning in 1974, Connors played in five successive US Open finals, the first man to do so since Bill Tilden, who featured in eight title matches between 1918 and 1925. Connors, who was the first since Fred Perry (1933-34, ’36) to win the US titles on three occasions, also won at Wimbledon in 1974 and 1982, from six finals, and at the 1974 Australian Open. Denied the opportunity to play at 1974 Roland Garros, due to his association with World Team Tennis, Connors is one of six players in the Open Era (since April 1968) to win three or more Grand Slam championships in a calendar year (also Rod Laver in 1969, Mats Wilander in 1988, Federer 2004, 2006-07, Nadal in 2010 and Djokovic in 2011 and 2015. Connors still holds the record for 107 grass-court match wins at Wimbledon between 1972 and 1991 and 98 US Open match wins between 1972 and 1992. He also won 19 doubles titles, including two majors at 1973 Wimbledon and the 1975 US Open (both with Ilie Nastase).

Nitto ATP Finals Highlights
The American made 11 appearances at the season-ending championships, starting with his debut at Barcelona in 1973, when he reached the semi-finals (l. to Nastase). After a three-year absence, Connors returned in the first year the Masters [now named the Nitto ATP Finals] was held at Madison Square Garden in New York, recovering from a loss to Guillermo Vilas during the round-robin stage to beat Bjorn Borg 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the 1977 final. He advanced to the semi-finals eight times, while his final attempt came in 1987.

Tour Highlights
Connors, who turned professional in 1972, winning his first tournament in Jacksonville, Florida (d. Graebner), continued at a prodigious pace, earning a men’s record 109th title at Tel Aviv in 1989. To-date, he has also won more singles matches than any other male tennis professional, 1274, although Federer is now closing in with 1,242 victories. Refusing to join the ATP in 1972, Connors and his manager Bill Riordan brought lawsuits against the new union in 1974, when he compiled a sparkling 99-4 record and won 15 tournaments, because of his Roland Garros ban. The lawsuit was dropped shortly after Connors lost to Arthur Ashe, the then ATP President, in the 1975 Wimbledon final. Connors won a record nine hard-court titles in 1973, a mark subsequently equaled by Federer, and won 10-plus trophies on four occasions between 1973-1978. He was a part of the United States Davis Cup winning team in 1981. By the age of 27, critics thought Connors was washed up, but he proved the doubters wrong. After losing in the 1996 Atlanta first round, a 44-year-old Connors was the only player who had been on FedEx ATP Rankings since its inception on 23 August 1973, at No. 1,304.

Overall ATP Singles Match Win-Loss Record: 1274-283
Overall ATP Singles Titles/Finals Record: 109-54

Biggest Rivalries
No love was lost between Connors and John McEnroe, but ultimately they both respected each other and, against Borg, developed terrific rivalries during an era when the sport boomed. Connors won eight of his 12 meetings against Borg, who triumphed in the 1977 and 1978 Wimbledon finals. Connors, who beat Borg at the 1976 and 1978 US Opens, ended up with an 8-15 record against the Swede. Connors played the role of spoiler in 1980 to McEnroe and Borg, who were battling for World No. 1. Connors had a winning record against McEnroe, until the younger American won 12 of their last 14 meetings (McEnroe led 20-14 overall). The 29-year-old Connors beat McEnroe over five sets in the 1982 Wimbledon final, one of three wins in nine major meetings. Connors also had significant rivalries against Nastase, early in his career, and later with Ivan Lendl. “I had true rivalries,” said Connors. “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.”

Legacy
Taught by his mother, Gloria, and ‘two-moms’ grandmother, Bertha, Connors is one of the most significant players in the sport’s history. As an electric, fiery, outspoken, but utterly competitive player, his fighting spirit is perhaps only matched today by Nadal. His on-court antics often got the crowd involved, but his prowess wasn’t questioned. His return was considered the best on the circuit, and, having learned to hit the ball on the rise, his flat two-handed backhand from the baseline countered the serve-volleyers of the 1970s and 1980s. Because of his career longevity and his rivalry with Borg and McEnroe, the trio were able to transcend the sport and draw in new audiences and greater purses. In retirement, he became an astute commentator and tried his hand at coaching, first with Andy Roddick between 2006 and 2008, then short spells with Maria Sharapova (2013) and Eugenie Bouchard (2015).

Memorable Moments
Troubled by a deteriorated left wrist in 1990, he dropped to No. 936 in the FedEx ATP Rankings before undergoing surgery. He returned in 1991 to play 14 tournaments, climaxing in his 14th US Open semi-final, where he celebrated his 39th birthday with a tumultuous fourth-round victory over Aaron Krickstein, soaring from 2-5 in the fifth set to win 3-6, 7-6(8), 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Connors, who won 10 of 11 matches on his birthday at the US Open, famously remarked at 6-6 in the decider, “This is what they paid for. This is what they want.” He then continued his magical run by battling back from a set and a break down against Paul Haarhuis, but lost to Jim Courier, becoming the oldest semi-finalist since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall lost the title match to none other than Connors himself 17 years before. He was subsequently named as the ATP Comeback Player of the Year for 1991. “If you took the 10 greatest moments or points in US Open history, six or seven of them would be his, and three or four would be at the 1991 Open,” said McEnroe. Highlights of the Krickstein match are reshown each year at Flushing Meadows, venue of the US Open, and it cemented Connors’ reputation as the people’s champion in New York.

McEnroe on Connors
“One of the things I respected about Connors was that one second he would be spewing a four-letter word, the next second he would do something that had people falling off the aisles. Yet he never seemed to lose his concentration.”

Connors on Connors
“Tennis was never work for me; tennis was fun. And the tougher the battle, and the longer the match, the more fun I had.”

Journalist/Broadcaster Graeme Agars on Connors
Connors was the ultimate showman on court, delivering not only a fierce, never-give-an-inch playing performance, but he also knew better than most how to get a crowd involved in a match and how to perform on ‘stage’. That showman approach was part of the reason that Connors used the unorthodox Wilson T2000 metal framed racquet, with the stringing wound around the outside of the exposed steel frame. The racquet had a tiny head and a sweet spot the size of a pea, but Connors knew how to use it to great effect during the early to middle stages of his glittering career. Even though he could have gained more power with other racquets on the market, Connors stuck with the T2000 for a long time. When asked in a press conference why he used the racquet, he explained “because I like the way the light shines off the frame when I play at night.” At another press conference, at the US Open in New York, he once explained he was running out of the racquets because they were well out of production and hard to find. This sparked an amazing response from his fans who sent in dozens of the racquets to keep their idol well supplied.

Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 1 May 2016.

The Mutua Madrid Open made history on Sunday morning by setting a new Guinness World Record for the most people bouncing tennis balls on racquets at the same time for 10 seconds.

ATP Tour stars Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took to the Manolo Santana court at Caja Mágica along with Tournament Director Santana and owner Ion Tiriac to take part in the record attempt. With help from a host of spectators, the Mutua Madrid Open beat the record of 767 people set at the China Open last year.

In total, according to the official count from the assistant judges and the official Guinness World Record judge Anna Orford, the number achieved in Madrid was 1,474, giving the Mutua Madrid Open a new record.

On International Workers’ Day, the Mutua Madrid Open ran the event in celebration of 15 years of employment at the tournament and to recognise the more than 8,000 workers who have in some way contributed to this event.

“It is important that the people know that we create a huge number of jobs every year,” said Santana. “It would have been impossible for the Mutua Madrid Open to reach 15 years without the great workers we have had and that is why this Guinness record was a great tribute to all of them.”

LONDON: The ATP today announced a partnership with the world’s leading online learning platform Coursera to provide ATP players around the world with access to over 4,000 courses. This will allow players to learn new skills during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has currently forced the suspension of play on the Tour, and even after the crisis when competitive play resumes.

Players can choose from a variety of courses across business, technology, data science, personal development, and mental well-being, learning new skills that will serve them throughout their playing and non-playing careers. Courses are taught by the world’s top university and industry educators such as Imperial College London, the University of Pennsylvania, and IBM.

Supporting the mental and physical wellness of players is a key priority for ATP. The partnership is going live at a particularly relevant moment in parallel with Mental Health Awareness Month in the US. Through course offerings such as The Science of Well-Being from Yale University, players will have access to highly relevant mental wellness content.

“Our partnership with Coursera gives players the chance to develop valuable new skills and knowledge that will be of benefit to them for the rest of their lives,” said ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. “We have a duty of care to our players and this is an excellent opportunity for them to think long-term beyond their playing careers. The online format and versatility offered by the Coursera platform is a perfect fit not only while at home, but also on the road once the Tour resumes.”

“Coursera, along with its community of partners, is proud to serve hard-working athletes who bring so much joy and inspiration to our lives,” said Kim Caldbeck, CMO of Coursera. “ATP players can now learn new skills from the best online courses in the world during this disruption and in between their commitments once the Tour resumes.”

Starting May 7, 2020, players will receive an email invitation to start learning. After setting up a profile on Coursera, they will be able to enroll in unlimited courses for free. Players will also have access to curated course collections in business, technology, and data science to help navigate Coursera’s expansive course catalog.

Former World No. 1 Patrick Rafter and WTA World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty visited frontline healthcare workers at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Queensland on Tuesday to show their appreciation and support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pair met with David Rosengren, Executive Director of the RBWH, and had a surprise hit at a pop-up court on the hospital’s helipad with clinical nurse consultants from the Infection Prevention and Monitoring Service Trish Hurst and Michelle Doidge.

“Being in that environment, it’s pretty tricky. You can’t thank these guys enough for what they’re doing,” said Rafter.

Barty, whose sister Sara is a midwife and mum Josie also works in the medical field, came up with the initiative, and she and Rafter also toured the hospital, including the Emergency and Infections Unit, where the most Queensland COVID-19 cases have been treated. The pair also joined a video conference with other members of the medical team to express their thanks.

“It was really incredible to come into one of the COVID wards and just to see how it all works and how it’s sectioned off,” said Barty.

“There were a lot of people and a lot of unsung heroes who are going unnoticed at the moment who are doing a lot of work to keep us safe, keep the community safe and to keep us tracking in the right direction.”

Rosengren said the visit from two of the country’s most popular athletes was uplifting for everyone dealing with the pandemic.

“Being the largest hospital in Queensland, we often have to bear the brunt of lots of the hard work and lots of the complexity,” said Rosengren.

“It is so good to be able to just spend five minutes and look at the bright side of life and to get some recognition. We have plenty of Pat and Ash fans here and the smile on their faces around the hospital has been exceptional.”

David Naldbandian earned a 0.35 winning percentage (11-20) against the ‘Big Three’ of Novak Djokovic (1-4), Roger Federer (8-11) and Rafael Nadal (2-5) in his career. But over the course of three magical days in 2007, the Argentine beat them consecutively.

Entering that year’s Mutua Madrid Open — which at the time was held in October — Nalbandian had only made one quarter-final all season, and that came more than five months earlier on Barcelona’s clay. The ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid was played on hard through 2008.

 

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Madrid 2007: @nalbandiand makes history on the ATP Tour ? #MMOPEN

A post shared by ATP Tour (@atptour) on May 4, 2020 at 2:22am PDT

But Nalbandian defeated Arnaud Clement, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro to gain momentum, and what he did for the rest of the tournament remains in the history books.

Nalbandian became the first player to defeat Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the same tournament, doing so to win his first Masters 1000 title. First up was Nadal, who he had never previously faced. The Spaniard was World No. 2, and Nalbandian was unseeded, but the Argentine broke five times en route to a 6-1, 6-2 quarter-final win after only 71 minutes.

“Everything went right for me today,” Nalbandian said, according to Reuters. “I took advantage of all Rafa’s errors and he never felt comfortable, but I felt I played really well.”

Djokovic, who had recently cruised past Nalbandian in Montreal, was next. But Nalbandian was in far better form this time around.

“Sometimes you play bad and he was on a roll. He won against Rafa and a lot of good players this week, so obviously he had a lot of confidence on the court and you could see that,” Djokovic said.

Nalbandian earned his only victory of their ATP Head2Head series, saving the two break points he faced in a 6-4, 7-6(4) triumph. The 2005 Tennis Masters Cup champion earned another shot at maiden Masters 1000 glory, after falling short on three previous occasions.

“This is a very important win for me as I haven’t had a good year,” Nalbandian said. “I had some physical problems this year but I’ve been working hard, regained confidence, and today I got the reward on the court.”

It would not get any easier against Federer, who had won their previous five matches. But Nalbandian had a date with destiny, rallying past the top seed 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 for the trophy.

“I was very focussed, knowing I’d have to play incredibly to win and everything went right for me,” Nalbandian said. “It was a big boost for me to beat so many good players here this week.”

To this day, nobody else has beaten the ‘Big Three’ at the same tournament. Even then, Federer knew it was an impressive accomplishment.

“I guess when you beat Nadal and Djokovic back-to-back you come into the final feeling better than ever,” said Federer. “It was a pity I couldn’t stop him today.”

Roger Federer has announced that his foundation will donate $1m to provide meals for young children and their families in Africa while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 103-time tour-level titlist took to Twitter to spread the message of the Roger Federer Foundation’s pledge, which will feed 64,000 vulnerable people affected by the crisis.

Now more than ever we must come together to help families in need ? https://t.co/c8fhhyRBIi

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) May 6, 2020

The Foundation is working through its normal local partner organisations in Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi to provide the extra meals for the next two months.

“The normally provided school meals are often the only nutritious meal children get,” said Janine Haendel, CEO of the Roger Federer Foundation. “With schools now closed, children no longer have access to these meals. Hunger is a problem, in particular in the countries with lockdowns where vulnerable families have no reserves.”

Founded in 2003, the Roger Federer Foundation supports educational projects located in southern Africa and Switzerland. The programmes on the African continent focus on the improvement of the quality of early learning and basic education and in Switzerland on the promotion of extra-curricular activities for children affected by poverty. All activities are realised and implemented by local non-governmental authorities in close collaboration with the local communities.

Since sharing the post on Twitter, Federer’s followers have been quick to praise the 38-year-old’s work. Ruth (@ruth_rf) said, ‘Beautiful work Roger! These strange times make us think about what really matters. Mar (@sheeriow) from Peru said, ‘Thank you for being so heartwarming and humble during this situation’ and Em (@emzitto_) from South Africa added, ‘God bless you’.

Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 10 May 2017.

Diego Schwartzman had a far more eventful warm-up than he would have liked against Kei Nishikori on Wednesday at the Mutua Madrid Open, with a shot from the sixth seed hitting him directly in the groin. 

Both Schwartzman and Nishikori had a laugh at the incident and the crowd even gave Schwartzman a sympathetic round of applause as he briefly collected himself. But the most crushing blow that Nishikori delivered was a backhand winner to wrap up a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 second-round win in exactly two hours.

Nishikori next plays local favourite David Ferrer in the round of 16 on Thursday.

Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova, two of tennis’ biggest stars, jumped on Instagram Live Tuesday to chat about everything from tennis and their mindsets to life off the court. One of the session’s funniest moments came when Sharapova recalled her first memory of the current World No. 1.

“I remember we played this little exhibition. I was young, you were young, way before you had any Grand Slam titles. I don’t know if you’d even won a tournament at that point,” Sharapova recalled. “You said that if you’d win, I would have to pay dinner. I was like, ‘Okay, whatever, who is this kid?’ You won and you were like, ‘We have dinner tonight. We’re going to the Japanese place!’ I was like, ‘Are you serious? You and me, going to dinner, tonight?’ So we did. We ended up going to dinner and it was so funny because you pulled out I think it was an old Kodak camera and you asked the waiter to take a photo of us… and here we are.”

“Maria is saying the truth,” Djokovic said.

“I think you were fanboying,” Sharapova replied.

Djokovic added that he lost the camera — and with it, that picture — but he wasn’t done with the story.

“You have to admit to everyone here that you lost on purpose!” he said, joking.

At one point, Djokovic discussed some of his hobbies, including reading and watching videos about health and wellness, mental health, spiritual health and so on. That was when Sharapova chimed in.

“It’s really admirable to watch you gain this interest throughout the years because I will say, and you’ll probably admit to it, but at the beginning of your career you struggled so much with your body and the length of matches,” Sharapova said. “I remember watching you on the clay and all the cramping and being like, ‘Are you ever going to get your s*** together?’ To see you make a transformation, what I loved about this sport… our game and our results really did the talking for us.”

Djokovic, who is in Spain, has seen some videos of Sharapova working out at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led him to some reflection.

“When you’re an athlete and used to these things, it’s such an integral part of your day, that it’s almost impossible to think about days when you’re not doing something, even if it’s stretching, yoga, whatever it is. I’ve been trying to do that. But there have been some days where I just haven’t done much physical activity at all. And that’s fine,” Djokovic said. “At the end of the day, we have to slow down and I think this whole thing that is happening, on a brighter side, allowed us to have time to reflect on ourselves and our lives, really understand how we want to move forward because we don’t know what’s going to happen, what are the ramifications of coronavirus on the tennis world.

“What we can do is we can encourage ourselves to take matters into our own hands and really try to learn new skills and work on ourselves, on every aspect of our being, and do some things that attract us, that are our hobbies… that we never had time to do.”

Although far from classing himself a master chef, Djokovic says he enjoys preparing one meal each day.

“I must admit my wife does more cooking for me. I am more of a breakfast, brekkie as they like to say in Australia, kind of person. I like to make juices, smoothies, breakfast bowls, those types of things. Avocado and toast, stuff like this with tomatoes,” Djokovic said. “We have been spending a lot of quality time with each other.”

The governing bodies of world tennis have come together to raise in excess of US $6 million to create a Player Relief Programme aimed at supporting players who are particularly affected by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative has seen the ATP, WTA, the four Grand Slam tournaments – the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, The Championships, Wimbledon and the US Open – and the ITF, unite in a show of support to players who are facing unprecedented challenges due to the global impact of COVID-19. Professional tennis is currently suspended until 13 July 2020.

In addition to contributions of their own, the ATP and WTA will administer the financial distributions of the Player Relief Programme, which sees respective contributions from the four Grand Slam tournaments and ITF split equally between men and women. The Player Relief Programme will target a total of approximately 800 ATP/WTA singles and doubles players collectively, in need of financial support. Eligibility for the Player Relief Programme will take into account a player’s ranking as well as previous prize money earnings according to criteria agreed by all stakeholders.

The move by the seven stakeholders provides the financial backbone of the Programme, with opportunities for additional contributions to follow. Funds raised through initiatives such as auctions, player donations, virtual tennis games and more, will provide opportunity for further support of the Programme moving forward and are welcomed.

The creation of the Player Relief Programme is a positive demonstration of the sport’s ability to come together during this time of crisis. We will continue to collaborate and monitor the support required across tennis with the aim of ensuring the long-term health of the sport in the midst of this unprecedented challenge to our way of life, and our thoughts remain with all those affected at this time.