Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors was born James Scott Connors on September 2, 1952, in East St. Louis, Illinois, the son of Gloria Thompson Connors, a teaching pro who placed a racket in his hand at age two. Raised on a public court behind the family home, he developed the flat two-handed backhand and the steel-rimmed Wilson T2000 swing that would later rattle every opponent on the men's tour. He briefly attended UCLA, winning the NCAA singles title in 1971 before turning professional the following year.

His breakthrough year was 1974, when he captured the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open and was barred from the French Open after signing with World Team Tennis. He held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 160 consecutive weeks beginning that summer, and he ultimately spent 268 weeks at the top across the decade. His rivalries with Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and Ivan Lendl drew enormous television audiences and helped lift prize money across the sport.

Connors collected eight Grand Slam singles titles in all: two Wimbledons (1974, 1982), one Australian Open (1974), and five US Opens (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983), the last of which made him the only player to have won the championship on grass, clay, and hard courts. His finish-line lunge at the 1991 US Open, when at 39 he reached the semifinals after rallying from two sets down against Patrick McEnroe, became Flushing Meadows lore.

After retiring in 1996 he ran a senior tour, coached Andy Roddick from 2006 to 2008, and published the memoir The Outsider in 2013. He has been married to former Playboy model Patti McGuire since 1979 and has two children.

The name Jimmy is an English diminutive of James, descended from the Hebrew Yaaqov through the Late Latin Iacomus; he carries the masculine sense "supplanter," the same root that produced Jacob and Jacques.