Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Jimmy Connors

Episode Date: May 7, 2019

Jimmy Connors (2x Wimbledon Winner, 5x US Open Champ, Former #1 Tennis Player) discusses the start of his career...being trained by his mom and grandma, moving to Los Angeles at 15 to train with Ecuadorian tennis pro Pancho Segura, and the first moment he felt a rush of adrenaline from the crowd. Jimmy opens up about his competitive rage and how it impacted his game, his rivalry with John McEnroe, his infamous 1991 US Open run, and finally reuniting with Aaron Krickstein after all these years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling problem call Connects Ontario 1866531-260. 19 and over, physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Rob, this is, you know, you don't have to be a fan of sports. How about a fan of just someone who faced adversity to the utmost? What?

He was like 40 when he came back. One of the best tennis players of all time. He made a comeback where he talks about, you know, he was injured. He never should have been in the U.S. Open. And it is shocking to see what he. he does in that U.S. Open. It is one of the most memorable matches. Even if you don't like tennis, this story is incredible.

I mean, the first match, people turned off the TV. He was playing Pat McEnroe, John McEnroe's brother, and they turned it off because Pat McEnroe was up like two sets to none, and Jimmy came back. And people at three in the morning, there was almost no one there and beat him to advance. And then the story gets even crazier. His mom was his idol. His mom and grandmother taught him how to play tennis. he has anger issues he's one of the most amazing he was the one of the original bad boys

oh yeah he was the bad boy before jimmy before john mackenroll yeah for sure this is one of my favorite interviews listen to it learn uh you're gonna enjoy this al goff creator of smallville he always says jimmy conners is my favorite he walked in there you had no idea who he was i mean you knew he was but you didn't know him and uh he loved the interview so check this out and uh let's get inside jimmy conners It's my point of you You're listening to inside of you With Michael Rosenbaum

Inside of You Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum Was not recorded in front of a live studio audience First of all, I'm here with tennis great Jimmy Conner is my favorite of all time You are, you are Thank you. That's pretty cool And this is the first time I'm nervous

You could probably hear my voice a little bit. Can you? Just a little. Just a little bit. It's good. Really, Jimmy? You can't hear it. No, no. I fake it pretty well. No, you're good. Honestly, arguably, the best tennis player ever live and still alive. And you look great. Well, you know, keeping up with things now is important, you know, and I live by one word, Michael. It's so disciplined. You know, and the older I've gotten, since I've gotten away from tennis and all that, I still got to live by that a little bit along the way. So getting up and doing things and

taking care of myself and trying to stay a bit healthy. You know, I've done enough damage over the years. Wait a minute. You're telling me there was a time when you weren't disciplined? I can't believe that. No, no, always. Always. Yeah. And that's the word I still live by. So I still have to, you know, from my own head.

Right. You know, get up and do something. So... You have any OCD? Oh, terrible. Yeah, me too. Not like the lines. Not like the lines, like walking over lines or cracks. Not that bad. I was pretty, I covered it up pretty bad pretty easily when I was playing because the tennis, you know,

and the adrenaline and everything kind of kept me out of it. But, you know, even now today, and I've been out of tennis, you know, almost 30 years, you know, I still have it, you know, but, you know, I kind of muffled it a little bit and get by, but... Do you ever go to a therapist or you'd never go to a therapist? No, I can't do that.

You've never been to one? I've worked it, I kind of worked it out on my own. And, you know, it's interesting. My kids, you know, I have the thing with, with lock and doors. there's lock and locks and things. And so I'd get up at night and I'd go lock all the doors and the windows and everything.

And so I'd get in bed and the kids would come in when they were younger and they go, hey, dad, did you lock the doors? And boom, you know, right up again. I mean, it's just, you know, I can laugh about it. Right. You know, but it's a serious thing. Sure. It really is.

It's a control thing. It is. And I think I have that too. I'm more of a control freak. I've told the story before, but the difference with me was I think it was because my mother used to watch horror movies with me and make me watch them when I was eight so I lock all the fucking doors constantly

and I'm looking under my bed and all that stuff so I get I get that but it's amazing like you're old school by the way you're not even old you're not old at all okay I want to take well you're really not old especially now today I mean people live till their 90s I mean you got at least 40 years I'll take it yeah right I'll take it yeah but you know it's funny how the reason why you're here

because I probably never would have got you here but I met your daughter Aubrey who's downstairs talking to my dog right now and we met at a at a Lakers game and she was just awesome and we left and we hit it off, we just became friends and I was just like,

I'm doing this podcast and blah blah and I said, do you think your dad, whatever? She's like, I don't know, sure, I'll ask him.

I was like, I'm like, Jimmy Connors is not coming to my house on Laurel Canyon. I like, this is my first podcast, by the way. Really?

Yeah, and to do it, when she asked me to do this, I say, when is it? And she told me and, and I said, I'm coming and,

but the deal is she's got to have dinner with me too. So, you know, so it's a good day. That's a great day. I love that. And, you know, to be honest with you, I mean, a lot of people will say, no one knows a lot about tennis. Tennis is a sport where you have, you know, you have basketball. I think it's become bigger and bigger.

And I think you have a reason. There was a reason for that. That was you in a lot of ways, the big comeback, which we'll talk about and all that stuff. And just like your own persona, like this guy that was anti, not to say, you're not a gentleman, but like we've heard it ad nauseum, but you were the guy that was tennis and you know what, screw you. I'll do what I want. And this is who I am.

and I'm not straying away from that. Well, you know, you've got to remember that was, you know, when I first started, you know, I was 15, 16 years old. I'm 65 now and I'm happy about that. But, you know, so that's 50 years ago. And tennis was at a different time. Right. You know, tennis was, you know, kind of stuck in a period of, you know, not really going anywhere.

And it had all the, you know, the pioneers that were trying to make tennis, you know, improve it and become better and get it to more people. So I happen to come around at a time when tennis became open, you know, which meant that the pros could play with the amateurs and everybody just play, you know, play together. Right. You know, my generation and my, you know, my crew, you know, and I say that because it's all my guys, you know, the guys that, you know, Nastazi played with all of us and Borg and Belas, we can go back and, you know, name them forever. But the guys that I was lucky enough to play with all had something on their own. And by that I mean that, you know, not only that they have their own kind of tennis, but they had their own characters and their own personality and their own attitude, you know, which I think at the time was necessary. You know, tennis was a gentleman's game.

That time changed all of that. And, you know, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. I mean, certainly we crossed the line many, many times. Sure. You know, but there were no rules then. You know, tennis was trying to feel its way. and we certainly were trying to feel our way and we just tried to feel each other

and we went astray. But on the other hand, you know, we had the real tennis lovers and the tennis enthusiasts. They were going to come no matter what. But tennis wasn't going to grow unless we got the real sports fan, you know, the basketball, the baseball, and the football

and the soccer and the hockey and you know, to come and watch guys running around in a pair of white shorts played, you know, hit a tennis ball. You know, something had to give, you know, to really bring those people in, the sports fan. So there was a strategy you're saying amongst your peers. It wasn't a strategy. It was all natural.

So it was inadvertent. Yeah. I mean, there was no plan to, you know, we should do this and we got to do that. It was just that the guys at that time, you know, some of us were crazy, you know, there wasn't country club guys. I mean, these guys coming out of the public parks and, you know, trying to, you know, make something of their life and have an opportunity to, you know, go to college or even beyond college, become a pro and become the best in the world and travel the world and meet people and

different cultures and, you know, really improve their lives. And, you know, that was me, you know, coming from a little town in, in Illinois, East St. Louis, Illinois. Are you a Cubs fan? I was a Cardinal fan. Oh, Buck? Right across the river. Did you ever listen to Harry Carrey at all? Oh, yeah, of course. Harry Carrey. Was he not the best? Hey, I'm sitting here with Jimmy Conters.

I can't believe it came all the way over from Santa Barbara with his daughter, Aubra, to hang out in my living room. You see, you talk like your old school too. See, you go back, you know, to the greats of that day. You know, to turn on a game and have Harry, Carrie and Jack Buck doing the play-by-play, you know, it's almost, you know, oh, really? You know, it's Harry Carrey and Jack Buck, you know, but anybody else was, wow. you know something special and it was it was well take me back to that east st louis right

right yeah belville well i was born and raised in east st louis and lived there for 11 12 years and then we moved to belville which is literally two miles away what was childhood like i mean for for young jimmy conners now i always read about like your mother gloria and your grandma but i never hear about your father anything i don't i couldn't even find anything is there something you don't talk about. No, no, no. My mom and grandma were the picture because they taught me the tennis. They gave me, you know, this life that I have today and the life that I have when I was traveling and playing. My dad was, you know, my dad, you know, he took care of, you know, the duties and, you know, he did the work and he came home. He wasn't into the tennis. Tennis wasn't his

thing. He did other things and, you know, he was a golfer and, you know, lived his life. But, you know, the tennis, once I got into the tennis, you know, that became my mom and my grandma's life, you know, but, you know, you have to remember, Michael, that back then, you know, what was the plan for me at seven years? That's what my dad said with acting. What the hell's the plan? Right. What are you going to do?

How are you to make money? There was no plan because there was no money, you know, back then. So, you know, the idea was to give us something to get us off the streets. Right. You know, and to let us work at something and to try to be good at something. Maybe we'll get an education out of it, you know, and go to college because, you know, And as I've learned over, you know, these many, many years, I can walk in any place with a tennis racket and be welcome. Right.

You know, not because I'm Jimmy Connors, but because I have a tennis racket. Yeah. You know, you're going to meet people. People play tennis. They want a game. You know, if you got a good game, come on in. All of a sudden, you know, you're part of the community. But your grandfather was a boxer.

He was. Yeah. So you think that like, okay. So you're thinking, okay, you're going to be a cop. Jimmy's going to be a cop. He's going to be a fighter. He's going to be like, where was it that, you know, what did you start doing? But I was a fighter, but I was just on the court.

That's true. That is true. But when did you pick up a racket? Whose idea was it to even pick up a racket? Were you doing anything before that? Well, no, I started when I was like two or three years old. My mom gave me a racket because she taught tennis to supplement the income. And I was around and my brother was around.

So we kind of took to it. You know, when the lessons would come, if there was five minutes, we'd be out, you know, picking up the balls and, you know, trying to hit a few. Did you hate it? Did you hate like, I don't want to do this? I loved it. I took to it right away.

So if your mother was like, if Gloria said, hey, you don't want to do this, she, I mean, she would have been fine if you didn't do it. She was fine.

You know, I had an absolute normal childhood. You know, it's always, you know, I could go with my buddies or I could run with my brother. You know,

and if I got up one day and said, mom, I'm not going to play tennis today. I'm going to go play basketball. You know, that was fine. But I always came back around

to the tennis. You know, and I was lucky because I had a built-in pro. And you were playing with someone good. Right. Who knew what she was talking about. I mean, you're not going out there hitting a ball and you can't get one volley going. Right. And she was so good, Michael.

And I hate to, you know, my mom, you know, she would blush, you know, because this wasn't her, you know. But she was so good at teaching. No, but bringing out, you know, and making it easy for and no pressure. You know, a lot of people thought that my mom was a state. door mother and you know was living through me sure she was living through me of course she was just my mom you know you know but the end the end result was if i if i didn't want to play tennis she'd have been fine with that right fine with that but i felt when i was young you know before i was 12 13 years old that i was doing it because i could spend time with my grandma and my

mom and do things but when i got 12 or 13 years old i started thinking there's something too this you know and and and and i remember saying one time to to my mom uh i said you know she we were driving from from from from our home to st louis to to play tennis and i said uh she asked me something and uh about tennis and i said boy wouldn't i'd love to be the best you know and and and and she looked around and and said really you know and i said yeah you know and you know i didn't know what i was saying you know she never mentioned that another time never ever mentioned it but before she passed she said do you remember wow are you kidding when she when when i said that as a kid and and she says it didn't take any more work for you to become the

best as it would if you just wanted to do it for you know for a college education so for me you know the pressure and nothing i never had that you know even playing the finals of wimbledon or the u.s open you know was never, you got to win, you know, this is what you've never felt that. Not from her. Not from her. You felt it within yourself. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I have my own pressure. Sure. But never any. Isn't that something? Because that's all, that's, you hear a lot of that with acting, you know, in this industry. It's like, you know, the parents and you got to do this and bring him to set. I'm like, oh, my God, this industry is not for children. Right.

And they push them and you got to do this and you got to do this because, again, they're living vicariously through them or, you know, I didn't have that. I had the extreme opposite. You know, I was like, dad, I got three goals in that. hockey game and we won and my dad would be like that was a week only oh you know what i mean he just wasn't like i got a half a scholarship offer from miami of ohio he's like michael come on what's going to happen to you what are you going to start with the fourth line work your way up to the third line work your way up you're going to be battered you're going to be this you're not a big kid you're a good player but there's you know what's funny is he was fucking right jimmy yeah he was right and i

ended up not doing that and i probably would have got the shit beat out i mean in a hard lesson like he yeah was sometimes getting this shit beat out he's pretty good i guess it is Because you're doing what you love. Have you ever had the ship be there? Oh, yeah. I mean the ship video. Way too many times. Like when you're an older, like when you're a man?

Oh, no. Or just like when you were younger. And I gave all that up. You know, once, you know, like I told you, I did all my fighting on the court. My grandfather trained me like a boxer, you know. And I see all these kids in the gym today and all that. And, you know, they're getting strong and they can bench press 300 pounds and go through all that. And then I remember seeing in the training room at Wimbledon four or five years ago.

and I see this, one of the players, he was bench pressing 300 pounds. And I go by and I was in shock. I was in awe. I said, you're really in the gym lifting that kind of weight. And so he says, yeah, he says, I'm strong, I'm strong. And I said, so I walked about 10 feet and I went back and I had to ask him. I said, yeah, how are you doing in the tournament? And he says, well, I lost yesterday.

You know, and the reason I say that is because all that in the jail, I always was under the impression that tennis muscles were long muscles, fast muscles. Right. You know, not, you know, bulky and tight. And, you know, and so, you know, there I go again, I'm old school. No, but it's true. If you have bigger arms, you can't. I'm old school training and, you know, and I like the football from those days and I like

the basketball from those days and the music from those days and the acting from those. We should hang out, Jimmy. And it's just me, you know, and I came up, it's such a great time, you know, of, you know, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Joe Montana and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Wayne Gretzky and please, Mohammed Ali, can I keep going? Yeah. You know, and back when tennis, when I first got into tennis, that's who we were fighting for that little headline on the front page against, you know. Ali knocks out Frazier, you know, or whatever. That's the headline.

So that's where the fire started, Jimmy. Yeah. You saw Muhammad kick and smash. Oh, yeah. How about that? How about going to see those? I mean, that was just, that was just, I don't understand this, though.

You're 11 years old, you know, back in Illinois, you know, and you're like playing and started playing in tournaments and things. And I'm huffing gas or something. In Indiana, like not knowing what the hell I'm going to do. This little kid, it sounds like you had discipline at a very early age. Yeah, but I had that all that. too. I was, I was, I was, you know, I was, you know, shoveling the snow and, and working, you know, working for my grandpa and, in doing things at the railroad with, you know, with him and doing all that.

I was doing all that, you know, and it happened. But, you know, to be, that wasn't work. That was, I was having fun doing that because I was hanging with the right people, you know, with my mom, my, you know, my grandma and my grandpa. Were you a good kid in school? No, it's terrible in school. Me too. Terrible. I hated school. Hated it and, and went to UCLA for a year. year and that was enough but but I was bad in school you just didn't like people talking to you do you feel like it was like or just I had ADD so I couldn't really focus I had a lot of things go wrong in school you know I I didn't want to sit there I was a clock watcher you know I had a reading disability so you know you know doing all that was tough and so I mean a lot of things

were you know for me to go to school and to sit there and then you know when I got older you're talking about 11 12 13 years old all I could think about all day is tennis tennis tennis that's it you know i want i want to go play i want to get out there i want to be outside i don't you know sitting in a classroom now you're talking about education i i think i've i've had a good education along the way not all of it was out of books you know so you know street smart yeah and and i'm i'm happy that's the one thing that that that uh that i was able to to give to my kids you know was was that kind of an upbringing my wife on the other hand was was better at the books.

Right. So, you know, but anyway, I mean, you know, my life growing up back in Illinois was, you know, was just normal, was a normal kid. But tennis back then, you know, wasn't, you know, if you didn't play football, baseball, basketball, something else, and you play tennis or golf, who-hoo, watch out. They call you a pansy. Oh, yeah. You got called names to see because he plays tennis. Oh, yeah. The short shorts. But why did they start with the short shorts? Why couldn't they be a little longer? Yeah, but, you know, we had to sell more than just tennis because we were trying to get the crowd in there. That's true. And I have to say this. And I'm not. hitting on you. I'm not gay. If I wore Jimmy, I'd be fine with it. But I always remember

Jimmy Connors was a great tennis player. He was a badass. And man, he had a great pair of legs. They carried me for a long time. Did you work on your legs a lot? Or you're always like, I mean, God, they were just perfect. I had these sissy legs, man. I was like, you know, because I remember playing high school tennis. And I was second doubles. And Andy Biviana, we won sectionals once. But I remember I was a scrawny little thing. I think I was a I got kicked off the team because I just, you know, for whatever reason. But I remember just like going, everybody had these strong muscular legs. And I was like, man, I'm not made for tennis.

I'm not sexy enough for the sport. Well, it's such an interesting time, you know, to, you know, to, you know, you talk about that in, you know, a comparison of styles now today with the, you know, the kids that wearing the long shorts and, you know, kind of the baggy fit, almost like basketball shorts. And, you know, the multicolors and standing out. And back then it was white, you know, wore a, you know, where. white shirt with white shorts with white socks with white tennis shoes you know it's just all that and i look back at a lot of the guys i played with and and uh ilin nastasi for instance uh you know from

romania was he's your favorite right one of my best friends and and probably in my in my opinion he should have been the best of all time he was that talented he looked like he was born in a pair of of tennis shorts you know that they just fit him it just just was him but weren't you guys worried that the you know the ball might pop out not not the tennis ball you know i mean because they were short like if you know you had to really tuck them in there yeah you know you did what you could you never had that happen to you uh i i was i was pretty fortunate i was i was solid i was pretty solid in there i was okay good good inside of you is brought to you by quince i love quince i've told you this before i got this awesome sixty dollar cashmere sweater

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it's just been kind of interesting to watch. Yeah, so what happened? I guess your mother had to see something in you. Because I'm sure she would have, sounds like the kind of woman that just would speak her mind if she felt something, right? Oh, yeah. So if you didn't have that certain talent that I thought, look, she'll let you probably live your dreams

and do whatever you can, but she saw something special because she took you out to California. Well, she did, yeah, and turn me over to Pancho Seguera. Now, educate people and myself. Pancho Cigura was one of my mom's best friends because my mom played the National Circuit

when she was young also. And Pancho Ciguro was from Ecuador, as a pro from Ecuador, and they became great friends when uh along the way in the the 40s uh so so when uh he was was coming through st louis i was uh 15 years old and he came through st louis to to to play a match and he was doing some some promotion for the for the match coming up so we went over to see him and to say hi to him my mom looks at poncho and says i've got a kid here you know it's pretty good my kid by the way

You're right, exactly. You know, and now, now the first thing I do is go hide behind my mom after that. Why are you telling her, come up. Yeah, and so how many times has the great Pancho Seguera heard that from parents too? But because it was Gloria Thompson, you know, my mom, who he knew, he says, how about this? Send your kid out to California. He can go to school with my son, Spencer, who is my age, and, you know, he can stay out here and play tennis in California. I didn't, not to cut you off, but he didn't ask you to let's see him play right now.

No. There wasn't anything like that. So he didn't know how good you are. No, he didn't. He kind of took my mom's word for it. And so, you know, that's when I picked up and I moved out to California. So she saw something in you at how old, before, when you moved out there? I was 15.

So she said, you're that good. I think you have this potential. Well, she had taken me as far as she could. I was a boy, now man, that was taught by a woman, a woman's game. to beat men. Now, if you look at that, that's a little bit confusing, you know, and, and I'm proud of that. Absolutely. Because the, the, the game that my mom gave me held up for three, almost four, four decades, you know, so, you know, taught a very simple, very, you know, basic fundamentals and technique. And, and, and, but when she turned me over to Poncho Segura,

my mom had given me the game. Now, Pancho had to give me, whatever else. else was to come right you know the the the mental side of it the you know the strategy side of it and all that you know and it goes back michael just to just to finish is that you know people say that you know you you had to you know it was you had to because and they were right because i couldn't afford to to fuck up right and the reason i say that is because my mom and poncho my mom and grandma and poncho and my family both all invested so much in me not money not time but emotional they're emotional you know what they gave me emotionally you know to to be what I became I couldn't afford to mess up couldn't I couldn't do it so you know when you when I go

back and I say well did you have fun I had a blast I had a blast playing I had a blast traveling I Everything was great, but there was always that little switch, you know, in my mind that said, okay, 1230, it's time to go, one o'clock, it's time to go. You can't, nope, no more of that, none of that. You can figure that out later. Wow. You know, always. That's a lot of pressure that you put on yourself.

Well, yeah, but I mean, in a way that probably helped me become what I became. Right. Now, do you remember when your mother played you, when she was on the court with you? you because you played her right oh yeah did she try her damnedest and would not ever was she just one of those that were just like i'm going to beat you into you beat me oh yeah i i couldn't beat my mom until i was 16 wow she was that good that good and how old was she at this time when she's still beating you well i mean i don't know if you want me to say that right well i you know she she was uh you know she'd she'd been through it i mean i was 16 you know my brother you know

was 17 and so how did you react did you did you come home like dad I beat mom I went up I remember going up on my mom and apologize him wow and I say you know I'm sorry and you know she goes that's that's that's the day I've been waiting for you're waiting for you to do that now you know so I mean how many you know parents say that you know most of the parents would be yeah you know you're lucky you know you know my mom was my mom just did nothing but encourage me along the way Rob's moving the blind. See above you? Yeah, perfect. Because he's washing you. Is that better?

What, did this just happen? Rob, our producer, this is what happens in a podcast, Jimmy. Sometimes the lighting changes in someone's house. We're not in a studio. But she's still look cool. You got the shades. I was good to let. Thank God for the shades, Jim.

I don't want you to be washed out. If I take them off, I wouldn't be able to see anything. I'd be like your puppy. I'm sort of like that with reading. I need these glasses to read. But, yeah, I mean, it's a, it's been. And I've had such a ride, Michael. You know, I mean, from the very beginning, it's been such a ride.

Even now, I mean, my kids, both of my kids are growing. Brett's 38. Aubrey's going to, you know, going to be 33 and, you know, been married for 38 years. It's incredible. You know, I mean, just, you know, but when tennis stopped, I mean, I didn't, I didn't feel like I was struggling to walk away from tennis. Right. You know, I had other things to do. You know, I had still had kids to raise and, you know, family to be a part of and other things to do business-wise.

And, you know, so my transition, even though I missed it, because there will never be any replacing that ever, nothing ever to replace that. So anyway, it's been, it's been a great ride and it's still going. I love it. So, so, and I like, this is why it's called inside of you, because I really want to get to, I'm getting to know you and how this all happens. So poncho's teaching you, you're out in California, all these things are happening. and things picked up pretty fast after that, didn't they? Yeah, you know, I did, I started growing into my game. You know, I was 15, 16, and, you know, around poncho and starting,

my game started to get better. I started to get a little stronger and a little bigger. And so, you know, my mom gave me a game that I could grow into and grow with, and it would come right along with me. So, you know, when I was, you know, 17, 16, 17, I started, you know, winning some important matches. At that point in your life, how did you take losing?

Were you a guy that threw a racket? Were you a guy that said, yelled, fuck? Did it just infuriate you? Did it just infuriate you? Did it weigh on you for a long time after the game? No. You let it go.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I didn't take it well. Right. You know, but I always, I always knew that, you know, that, you know, at the beginning, my mom wasn't looking for me to win when I was 10, 12, 14 years old. she was looking for me to win when I was 24 years old, you know, and, you know, when it, you know, when it mattered.

I think that's a lot that change, you know, that the parents today. I mean, they see so much money and so much what goes on in the game today that they want their kids to come out, you know, and win from the beginning. I mean, it's good because you're gaining confidence, but, you know, it's a little different. It went 14 than 24. Yeah. You know, what Poncho gave me, I mean, he gave me, so much he basically taught me life i mean you gotta remember i came from a little town in

illinois you know and and he was teaching me more than than just you know the game and being around the game it was you know the whole outside the game and dealing with people and and and and figuring out uh you know uh you know not only on the court but off the court you know how to survive right and you know which was uh you know which was pretty fun did he ever tell you hey you can't act like that when you mess up hey you can't yell like that your mom ever say hey jimmy you know that's not tennis and you just said that's one thing i'm not going to listen my my mom made me who i was and poncho made me who i was they didn't make me who i became that was my doing you know so i'm not blaming anything right or wrong that i did i'm taking full credit for all of it you know

the wins and the losses right did they yes they did at the beginning but you know that That was such a part of me because it was my own, it was my own personality, my own attitude. You know, if I would have kept that in, I wouldn't have lasted so long. Right. You would have imploded. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

I'd have been out of the game early. And maybe that would have pleased a lot more people. I think that would happen. You know, but thank you. But, you know, but for me to let that out and to do it, you know, but like I said earlier, I mean, we, we, there was no rules back then. You know, we were walking fine lines in. you know if we could get by with something we did you know intimidation you know arguing with the umpire you know nobody's standing up for us we didn't have a a head coach or uh you know

a team captain or anybody you know looking out for us we were looking out for ourselves out there you know so if we weren't going to stand up for us who was you loved you loved at an early age applause people there for you people feeling that crowd with you did you just did that give you that energy i like the crowd you liked it yeah because yeah i felt for me as an actor, it was always like, I wanted instant gratification. I wanted people, when I said a joke, I want laughs, when I said something, they applauded, I want that, it feeds you, it makes you better, it gives you more confident, it's you, and it's probably, there's some unhealthy aspect of it.

No, but they're in it, you know, they're in it. Yeah, they're in it and they're, you know, they know what you're up there doing, no matter what, acting or tennis or what, music or whatever, and they, they want to, they want to get as involved as you do you know that that's why you know this happens yeah you know so you know that they want to be a part of it they want to be drawn in you know and and uh to sit there and not just sit there to say they're they're watching a movie or whatever they want to be sucked into something special you know and you know and if the more they gave me the more i wanted to give them you know it's funny rodney dangerfield one of my favorites of all the time and uh he was doing caddyshack it was

his first movie he's like i'll tell you i don't know he does something i don't know what the line was and then afterwards he kind of goes into a corner that's pretty good by the way oh that was really good i'll tell you jimmy it's amazing you're amazing all right he uh goes to a corner and he's looking upset he's shaking his head and the guy that was the italian guy in caddyshack i don't remember his name comes up and goes hey rodney you okay no he's like what's the matter he's like i'm bombing here i'm bombing he said are you talking about nobody's laughing i tell you nobody's laughing they can't laugh because of the microphones it's a movie right he didn't understand because he was so used to instant they love me

right laughs that and it energized him and there's something so like i had to learn that the first time i did a tv show or a movie or whatever i was trying to be funny and no one's laughed and i kind of felt like oh i better can have another take no it was great what do you mean we laughed at the monitors interesting i couldn't fucking hear you laugh louder we can't right but there's something about that There's something weird about that. But that's all about performing, though. Don't you, is that the reason you go out there to try to reach that, that, you know, something special, you know, or perfection or whatever to get the feedback? If they're not clapping, you're doing something wrong.

Something's wrong, right? But you did something that no one ever did. I mean, when you watch some of those matches and the 91 comeback at the U.S. Open, you watch these things. And I just watched the ESPN 30 for 30. and I was just like, I've never seen tennis crowds like that. It was just like people, and you say, give them what they want or whatever. And it was, you were like part of them. They felt like they were part of Jimmy Connors.

Like, you know, somebody said on the show that they felt like, I helped him win that match. I was there. I was part of that. How do you feel when people say that? Well, I mean, that's, that gave me what I worked for for 20 years, you know, right then and there. you know, to get to get that noise in that stadium. You know, that was 20,000 people sounding like 60, you know, and, you know, for, you know, for them. But they, they weren't applauding a shot.

They were applauding it. A performance. It. You know, I mean, it was, you know, and I haven't gone back and watched a lot. I did watch a few quips of, you know, that, that, that open. occasionally right but but i would watch that every day but but i you know i no no but michael i didn't even watch the tennis i watched the crowd you know the crowd you know what was what was what interested me you know and and and they were clapping you know when when the tennis was still going

on you know you know and their involvement that gave me everything i work for right right there now a lot of people out here like you know listening and watching this was uh you know when you here, Jimmy Connors, I mean, you think tennis legend. It's not like, you know, everybody knows about the 91 U.S. Open, you know, but don't forget the Wimbledon when you beat McEnroe in 82. And don't forget the eight majors. And don't forget all these, you know, do you know how many matches you played? I played a lot of matches.

You could get a number. Give me a number. 1,500. 1535. Oh, yeah. How many wins? 1,200. I know I have 1256.

Okay. eight yeah it's over 82% winning percentage i mean that just baffles me and you look at this and you're like you know a grand slam grand slam's like you know for those people who don't it's it's one of the majors right it's one of the there's four four australian the french the u.s open and wimbledon right right and the one that you didn't win and you could have won it probably a couple times all four in one year which is how many times has that been done but you didn't play in the french open and why not Well, I mean, you know, a lot of people bring that up, and I won Australia. Right.

And once back then you went Australia, then you're the only one that can win the Grand Slam. Then the next one was the French, and that was the first year that Team Tennis came in. And Team Tennis was something new that was brought in by Billy Jean King, where I played for Baltimore. So there was Baltimore and Pittsburgh and New York and then Los Angeles. and there was like Houston and there was 10 or 12 cities around the country that would bid on a team and for their players. So it was the first year and, you know, it was early in my career and I was still... It was like 75? 74.

Yeah. And I was still looking to make money. You know, I didn't have any, so I was trying to figure out ways to make money. And they offered me a good contract to play team tennis. So, plus it was matches leading up to Wimbledon and the French and all that, which would have been good for me. So all that aside, the French decided that team tennis wasn't good for the game in itself and that was going to keep guys from playing in the major tournaments and so forth, which, you know,

for me, was just the opposite. I was going to play the majors and use that as match play and getting in shape and all that. So anyway, they decided to keep me out. Did it piss you off? you know so many things happened then yes it pissed me right it did and and uh you know you know go back and whether i would have won the french or not you know it's it's almost uh it's a it's a better story that i went on in one wimbledon in the open and the story is now well should who knows connor's could have won the grand slam right you know who we'll never know now it was

you know then lawsuits come in and you know and all that and and and it was nothing about that that that I enjoyed. That was one part of my career that really wasn't, you know, a fun part. I mean, I had a manager who was, you know, took over that and did a lot of things. What was his name? Bill Reardon. Reardon. Bill Reardon. And who, you know, who was probably the greatest marketing and promoter I've ever met. It's like a Don King of Tennis? Beyond. It was Barnum and Bailey before Barnum and Bailey. He could, he could sell you anything. And how did he sell you? If you were him. And he sold me. You know, that was the whole thing.

You know, how he sold me, you know, when I was first coming up, Michael, and I walked in one of his tournaments, I don't even think I was a pro yet. And I walked in to do a cocktail party, you know, for him and the sponsors. And as I walked in, I had no credentials, no anything. And he says, the one and only Jimmy Connors, you know, now I'm looking around saying, you know, where is he? You know, I have no credentials to warrant that. You know, but that was his starting of building me, you know, my reputation and what I was, you know, what. And is there a point where you start believing that? Oh, yeah, right then.

You're like, I am the Jimmy Conner's. Right then. Right then. You're like, I am. I'm the Jimmy Connors. Yeah. I mean, obviously, you know, for him to say that, you know, he had to see something. So, you know, okay, I'll take it.

You know, so then you, you know, then all of a sudden you start winning a few matches. Right. And then all of a sudden you start believing that. And you're right. I did start believing it. What was the first match where you were like, I'm going to, like, wow, I'm somebody. This is the one that now it puts me on the map. I was 17 years old.

I was playing in the Pacific Southwest, which is right here in L.A. at Los Angeles Tennis Club. And I'd gone through the qualifying. I won five matches in the qualifying to play the great Roy Emerson. Oh, Emerson, right. I found out all this later. But he had just come from the U.S. Open, where he was in the semifinals, I think. which is a grind, and so he travels to play this young, 17-year-old kid in the first round

who was, you know, looking for, you know, any way to, you know, to get a win. I go out and I play him, and I beat him six, four, and the third. On a side court. Straight sets. No, no, three sets. Oh, three sets. Three sets. And on the side court at the L.A. tennis club, I had poncho watching the match and his son, Spencer,

who was my good friend. And by the time we got into the match, you couldn't find a seat. And I say that because that's the first, really the first feeling of an event that I was a part of, which was that kind of match of that importance where, you know, that people were actually clamoring, you know, to come and to watch and to get a view of. And that's the one thing that Pancho told me after is he says, do you like that? Do you like what happened there? And I said, what, the wind, you know.

And I said, you know, I'm going out. My arms are raised and, you know, I just beat Roy Emerson, you know. And then he says, I'm not talking about that. I said, I'm talking about the crowd. I said, I said, that was unbelievable. That was unbelievable. He says, you want it again? He says, go win tomorrow night.

You know, I said, okay. You know, so then right then, right then I started getting the feeling of what that. Winning felt good. The winning felt good is right. And the crowd and the noise and the energy and all this. And that's when you're 17 years old. Yeah, yeah. And you said, I got this.

Well, I didn't have it, but I was getting it. You were getting it. Yeah, it was, you know, things started to go in the right direction. And that was really the first time that I felt that I could actually start competing against the guys at the top. Were you at that age pretty fearless? You didn't care if someone was or did it get in your head a little bit like this guy's this? I got to watch out for this. No.

Was there any kind of strategy? No. You know, the bigger they were, the better win for me. You know, that's the way I looked at it. Right. You know, whether I did or not, because when I was first coming up, Michael, I didn't have any pressure. You know, if I wasn't able to go out and freewheel it and, you know, just, you know, cut loose and play my kind of tennis with no pressure, when would I be able to? Right.

You know, so, you know, I was looking to play, you know, that. But then, on the other hand, we're talking about Bill Reardon. Here was his genius, too. he kept me kind of quiet you know i played his tour a number of months of the year so that i wasn't just always in in the the the jaws or the greats you know i'd go and i get some experience and i get matches i'd be in good shape and you know i get some wins so my confidence would go up and so that when i went out and i played against the best you know i wasn't you know walking in lacking anything right you know and i was eager eager to play him so

So, I mean, I was brought up by some... Kick-ass women. Crazy, crazy, genius, you know, and I'm saying that with my mom, too. My mom and my grandma, I mean, you know, they had to be crazy to think some kid from, a little kid from Illinois could eventually, you know, become the best player in the world. And it'd be crazy to think that. Then to be crazy to turn me over to Seguera, and he was crazy for taking me. Yeah. You know, so, I mean, it's been, it's unbelievable.

I mean, what a story. So much fun. And, like, along the way, now we're in the 70s and you're starting to build a name for yourself and, like, what about dating? Like, what about dating? What about parting? Were you more disciplined where you weren't a drinker? You weren't a, you weren't doing any drugs. You were just so focused.

You never got into that stuff. I didn't know. And being in California, that's got to be hard. It's all there. It was all here. And it could have been, you know, and I was hanging around UCLA and, and then eventually, went there for a year and it was available uh but you know like i said i couldn't afford to mess up you know i i i owed people you were the guy that went to dinner and about 9 30 said i got to go

home no i got a train in the morning no i wasn't i wasn't quite like that but but but i you know like i said i always had that switch you know that that that knew that that when it was time to leave and and i was pretty good pretty good it's staying away from the trouble i was pretty good What was the first moment where you said something came out of you that you hadn't seen before or your coach hadn't seen before or your family hadn't seen me? Like ferocity, that energy that sort of like just that that Jimmy Conner's that everybody came to know and that you never knew it was going to happen. It was unpredictable. When was the first time that something came out where you were like, you surprised yourself how like you lost your shit, you lost control, you screamed, you did something and you, then you were okay with it? How did that evolve?

Was that just a slow evolution of? Yeah, it wasn't, I mean, it just didn't all of a sudden happen. I mean, you know, my, you know, my, geez, I swore I wasn't going to use this word, rage. Hey, we don't get it, people get it. I swear I wasn't going to use that. My rage came from an early age. I had a lot of it. And tennis was very good for me because of to get rid of that.

Right. And then, you know, as I, as I use that, I could push myself further and push myself harder because of that. But then it also caused me trouble as I got older, you know, on the court and, you know, some of the situations I got in because of that, rage. But on the other hand, without that, I don't know if I would have been. If you would have gotten as far. I don't think I would have. Did you ever get mad at yourself at losing yourself? Oh, yeah.

Like, did you ever just like, did you ever have a good cry? Did Jimmy Connors ever have a cry? No, there's no crying in sports for me. That's Tom Hanks said that. No, but I didn't take that from him. There's no crying in baseball, Jimmy or tennis? No, I didn't. I told you before, I crossed the line.

And I probably had more fun crossing the line than I did. Anybody. Yeah. To be able to control that rage, sometimes I couldn't. Sometimes I just couldn't. Did Gloria or grandma or a poncho ever say, he might have lost it a little bit that night? Yeah, you know.

Did you get mad when they said it like, well, I was right. I was never wrong. And I've been criticized for saying that, you know. But for me, everybody has their own thing to get them to where they want to go. And like I said, when we first sat down, I'm taking full credit right and wrong. Yeah. All the good and all the back. What you see is what you get, though.

Yeah. That's always been like that. That hasn't changed. No, no, no, no. This is who I am. I'm not perfect. Right. Right.

And the end result is, Michael, going back then, you know, there was nobody like that. Well, McEnroe was a bit of a hothead. Yeah, but he came after. He came after you, right. You know, there's guys that are bad boys, you know. Did you ever say that to him? Did you ever say, you're copying me, buddy. I started this shit.

Well, there was, there was, there was, there was, there was, there was, Nostazi and Connors. And then. there's one of be bad boys. Right. You know, and, you know, but if you're going to do it, don't apologize for it. You know, go and do it and take full credit right and wrong. And the interest that that created, you know, that's what brought in the hockey fans. Right.

You know, and the basketball fans. That's, you know, they didn't want to come see guys playing whitechard. I told you that. They wanted to see guys going at it. Did you ever throw a punch in a tennis match? No. Did you ever come close? Me and Mack had some good times.

Right. You know, some good things. Do you think he's a tough guy? I think he can, sure. I think he can handle himself. If you guys went at it, your youth, it would have been a good scrap. I'm glad it never went there. Right.

You know, but, yeah, I think it would have been fun. You know, and I think he thinks the same thing, which was even better. What was the first moment that when you, the first time you played each other, did it start right then? I had everything he wanted. I'm Irish. He's Irish. I was number one in the world. He wanted to be number one in the world.

I was number one in the world. wanted to be number one in the U.S. My return and my one game was totally opposite of his. He was a serving volley. So we clashed at everything. And the first time we played was in the semifinals of Wimbledon. He qualified, got to the semis, and I played him in the semis and beat him in four sets. You know, right then I knew he was my competition.

I knew that. Right. And how old were you at this time? See, I was 77. So I had to be 26. And he was... 18? He was 18.

Yeah. 25, 26 and he was 18. What was the worst thing he ever called you that really pissed you off on the court? Oh, I don't... You ever say old man, even though you're only 26? Oh, that's cold. Ouch. Oh, but you're 26, you're not that old, but...

No, no, you know, it's just, you know, we just... Just combative. Yeah, we just went at it. But that's what made for that rivalry. You know, our rivalry was not soft. That was, you know, the Lakers and... and the Celtics, you know, Connors and McEnroe, you know, and nowadays, you know, they've got great rivalries, but, you know, it's tough for me to ever think that Mack would have hugged

me after a match. It's just tough for me to think that, you know, or vice versa. You know, these guys today, it's just different, you know, and I'd like that. You know, I'd like having that kind of rivalry with him because it brought out the best in me. But I was at a stage, Michael, where things that happened over the course of my career, every time I walked out there I felt like

these guys would rather beat me than anything you know which was you know to me what a compliment yeah did you did you feel like you wanted was there part of you part of Jimmy Connors that like every match you played I want to get under his skin

I want to piss him off I want to fuck with this guy's head I want to psychologically beat him I want to physically beat him I want to fucking beat this guy any way I can was it always like that couldn't have said it better myself Really?

I mean, but it's true because you have to impose, you know, what you have on them. Because it's not only that match, because you're going to play these guys over and over and over again. So you've got to try to figure out a way to never let them forget the last time. You know, so, you know, for me, whatever that took. Right. And I've been criticized for that, you know, for having that kind of attitude. Sure. You know, but, you know, what the hell?

Like you said, you know, I am what I am. Before 91, you had an injury, you're out for tests. What was happening, like, in the late 80s before that tournament? Were you having a lot of problems? No. You hurt your wrist, didn't you? Oh, in 90. In 90, you hurt your wrist.

You missed a lot of games? I missed the whole year. Missed a whole year. Yeah. And you had, how many straight U.S. open appearances before that? Oof, I don't know, 20. Straight U.S. open appearances. I think 18, 19, something like that.

And so 90 was the first time you missed it. Yeah. And the 91, you're recovering from this. You're 30, almost 39 at this point. Yes. And you're like, what were you thinking? One last hurrah. Most guys would have been like, I'm done.

Well. For a sport like that, there's so much conditioning, so much. But I was done. You know, my, I blew my wrist out in my very first match of 1990. And every doctor I went to told me, he says, rest, you'll be fine. You know, take a little time off. take a little time off, you know, so two weeks turned into six weeks, turned into three months, turned in, you know, so, you know, and then I tried to play a little bit along the way. I was getting frustrated, you know, see if it worked.

So I went to Europe in September, the end of September of 90, and my wrist was getting no better. I went to play two tournaments and I was shooting up my wrist to see if I could play, you know, like epidurals or steroids or whatever. or whatever, so I wouldn't feel anything. So I came back, did no good. And I got a call from a doctor friend of mine in Santa Barbara, and he said, hey, what's going on? I said, geez, Doc, I just got back from Europe. He said, how'd it go?

And I said, well, not so good. He says, you're finished. Just like that. And I went, you know, I just got off a plane. Sounds like my ex-girlfriend, Jimmy. I've been there, too. We're finished. It's all of them.

I've been there. And I said, I. he says you come see me come see me tomorrow we're going to either figure this out or we're not so i went in the next day he opened up my wrist my wrist had exploded so he had to rebuild my left wrist my good wrist and and uh and it wasn't the kind where you knocked me out to do it so he he did this thing and and come on you're feeling this shit no it wasn't feeling anything oh thank god put this thing on my arm where there was no blood flow and and so my arm was like it was asleep and so i'm talking to him, you know, all while he's doing it.

And he's telling me what he's doing. And I'm going, well, how's that? How's that? I'm digging in your philanthropy now, Jimmy. Here we go. We're going on the yacht. Jesus. You know, looking back, I mean, the reason I did it, because I didn't want to be told that I had to stop. Right. Of course. Anyway, to make a long story short,

I'm in a cast for, I don't know, 12 weeks after that. I start out like a beginner. And my kids were throwing me balls. and I didn't mean to come out like that. Jesus, Jimmy. Jesus, really?

And so, and then when I went back into play a tournament, I was treated as a newcomer, as a beginner also, and that pissed me off. So, anyway, to make long story short, I go and I play the French, I get to the third round of the French, I get to the third round of Wimbledon, which is really not the results I was looking for. But my goal was the U.S. Open, and that if I could, could get in shape and use the four or five months before the U.S. Open to get my game in order and get my strength back. And if my wrist held up, then the U.S. Open was where I wanted to

Is there a certain, you have to qualify for the U.S. Open? Is there something you have to do? I didn't. They gave me a wild card into the U.S. Open. So it was a wild card. I had that work. So it was just by chance, by luck, that you got into the tournament? No. I mean, I was ranked out of, I was ranked 160 or whatever. Yeah. I think it was 174. Yeah. So then, so they, I asked for a wild card to let me in the tournament. You know, I'd won the thing five times. So, you know, hopefully they would have given me a wild card. And they did, you know, which was great. And but, but I wasn't seated. I was just throwing in the draw. You know, and, you know, for me, I always wanted to be a floater, a dangerous floater in that, and I was now. All of a sudden, at almost 39, I was a dangerous floater. But not only that, but there's something to be said about, like if a pitcher goes into the seventh in and a, and his team's losing 3-0 or 5-0.

It's not so much pressure. He's losing, he's pitcher, your team's... He just... In other words, you'd probably throw your best inning. He strikes out the side. Maybe it gives his team some momentum. They start winning. I don't know if that's a good analogy or not,

but what I'm saying is, you really, as much as a competitor you are, you probably didn't have a lot of pressure on you because no one thought you had a fucking chance probably to win, right? No, that's right. Exactly right. You know, and from my...

I didn't know where I was... what I was feeling until I walked out onto the court and you know and when they made the draw I go this is the interesting thing you know I get a call that says the draw is made and I said oh good you know and I never cared about the draw never looked at the drawer or whatever and they said you play mackenro you're thinking John I'm thinking geez John doesn't he's not playing anymore you know what the hell he said his brother Patrick you know and I'm going oh my God so you know I go out and and play against him, and I'm down two sets of love and a break. Two sets of love.

People have left. There's 4,000 people. I love this story. 4,000 people all come down. The real fans. Right. The thing holds 20,000 people. Right.

4,000 people gathered around. People in the shitty seats are now in the good seats. And they're watching, and it's now like two in the morning or some shit. Right. And you've turned it around. Yeah, they stayed until the end. They stayed until about 1.30 in the morning. And when was the moment where you said, I'm in his head, man.

I got this. I just got to focus. Well, once I got back into the third set and I was down a break and almost two breaks and once I got back into that and things got even, you know, there's things that happen in a match, whether it's, you know, one call or a noise or a clap or something that you feel turns it around. And once that did, you know, my confidence and everything, even though I've still down, just lifted. and I'd see his shoulders kind of slumped a little bit and he says, you know, this match should be over

I should be in the shower, I should be out getting something neat, this is an old man, you know, I felt everything that he was saying in my head, you know, so, you know, so, but once I got through that, you know, I kind of took that as business as usual, you know, that, you know, I was down two sets, I was lucky, I got in a good grind and was able to win that match, but the next day, I got up early. I couldn't sleep. I got up early and went and practiced in Boris Becker.

I was on the third court and he came from the first court down to the third court and shook my hand and says that that was some play in last night. And I'll never forget that because, you know, for him to come and do that, I said, Jesus, something might have happened there. You know, something good happened there that, you know, for Boris, you know, and I'm friends with Boris. We've been friends for you. So did that give you even more confidence? Yeah. Yeah. I said, geez, you know, so all of a sudden I'm kind of. starting to question myself what happened there last night you know but but the the thing about it is from that point on then i was i was in the middle of that hurricane i was in the eye i didn't i didn't really

feel you know what was going on around that whole and then you beat michael shaperers yeah yeah and that was pretty easy you know well i won my my next two matches in in straight sets straight sets you know what people are going what what's going on here there's something special happening well it was that was good because i played almost uh probably four and a half hours with Patrick. So, you know, a couple easier matches was better for you. And then I played my friend Aaron Crickstein

in the fourth round, which was... Now, this is one of the... He's about to go up two sets to none, right? Yeah. And he had this thing. He knew that he... And again, you could see when I was watching the match, I could see that his face, there was something he missed a shot.

That was one of the overheads that he would get 90, 100, 99% of the time. He always nailed, and he missed it. And were you shocked? Were you absolutely shocked that he missed the shot? You never know what's going to happen in a situation like that. You know, I mean, that's why the difference between number one and number 100 is so, such a fine line. Right.

You know, you know, does Stefan Edberg who won the tournament, does he make that, you know, at that time? You know, or, you know, who makes that and who misses it? Do you think you would have won if Aaron, who never does this? And he said, like in that interview I watched, he goes, there was a ball. And he said, they called it in. He goes, what? That was out. And they overruled it.

And they said it was in. And he said, that was the biggest mistake because that pissed you off. And the fire that was inside, everything just changed. Things did change. You're right. You flipped out and then everything changed. Right. And plus the crowd got into it.

Exactly. Right. You know, the, you know, the arguing. And see, I like that part of the game. You know, the intimidation and the arguing and, you know, things because it gave the people the opportunity to see the real passion that you have for what you're doing. And, you know, I got criticized for that too. So, but, but that's okay. Yeah. You know, that, that's all right. You know, so, but, but he's right. Once, once, once that

happened, you know, there's my rage. That's it. You know, sometimes, you know, there's the rage that worked for me. Sometimes it worked against me. Sometimes it works for me. I'm 39 years old. Give me a break. Well, that's kind of what I said. Yeah. You know, but, but, but, but, you know, but, but, but, It was clearly, clearly obvious. You just, you lost it. I did. And it was genuine. It was just unadulterated, just came right out of you.

And that just gave you a new energy. Because you're probably tired after this is like a couple matches in or a couple sets in. Right. And probably gave you this adrenaline. Well, I mean, I've never thrown a match or a set or a game in my point in my life. And when we were one set all in that, that had taken so much out of me. that I had to let the third set go. Like you let it go?

I did. You know, for me, you know. Was it obvious? Well, it was obvious to me, you know, and I don't know if it was to the crowd. Was that strategy? It was. It had to be because if I would have given everything into that set and lost it, you know, wouldn't have had anything left.

So you said, hey, I know that if I just relax for this next set and take my time, because they do say things like, you know, I found an interesting, you did the towel 60, Six touched, you touched the towel, you sprayed your knee, you did all these things, you were taking your time, it was all deliberate. Because he played a fast game. Yeah, yeah, he was, you know. Did you want to slow him down? Well, yeah, I had to for me.

Sure. You know, and, you know, I had to kind of try to upset his rhythm some way. Right. You know, but I also, you know, knew when I first came out with, you were, we were friends. We practiced and, you know, hung out and did a lot of things. Did you always beat him? I had a good record against him, yeah. I did have a good record.

But I came out and thought that I could jump on top of him right away and kind of, you know, steamrolling. Right. Intimidate him. That didn't work. It didn't work. No. So, and that took a lot out of me. You know, in watching that when you'd come back and you beat Krikstein, then I watched it,

I kind of, I sort of felt bad for him because it was like his coach dropped him. He ended up selling aquariums and teaching tennis. And he's very open about it. He was just very vulnerable or whatever. And they said, Jimmy never called me. And I always thought, really? Well, I think a lot more is made out of that than should have been. I'm sure.

And the reason being is because, you know, after that, you know, my regular tennis day days on the regular tour were over. Right. You know, and I played a little bit. But then I got involved in, you know, another business. And then I got involved with starting. the senior tour. Should I have called him and stayed in touch with him and things? Sure. Do you ever think about him? Today? Today? Still?

Well, do you ever think? You know what? I'm just going to give him a call and say hello. Well, I'm down in Florida. I spent a lot of time down in Florida in Boca, and he's down there also. So we run into each other. Oh, you do run into each other now. Yeah. Okay. We had a match. The last match I played in the open, I played against him at his club down in Boca Raton, Florida. And so he did. You let him win, then you? You felt bad.

I felt bad for a 91 tour, you let Krikstein. I never let anybody. And you bought an aquarium. Never let that happen. You would never let anybody beat you, ever. Not even Brett, your son, not even your daughter, Aubrey, nobody. No, no, why? You just won't let that happen.

I can't. That's why I don't play tennis anymore, you know, in Buffalo Lake. I won't do it. The next guy you play, who is that, Paul Harvest. Yeah. Right? And I just want to talk about this, the lobs. It always, it's one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen.

Because how fast is his, you're hitting these balls just to stay alive. And you're deep on your side of the court. Right. And he is right at the net. And he pounds this ball probably 100 miles an hour. Yeah. All he has to do out of one of, just nail one of those out of your reach. And the whole rest of the match is different.

Right. Because it's break point, right? For two sets to lovely. I've never seen anything like this. He smashes a ball. It was like God, divine intervention. You hit this ball. It pops up again.

It's another lob right in front of his face. There's a whole court he has. He hits it again and you recover. And then it goes, and this happens four times. And it's one of the most, and you can hear that audience, the crowd. I've never, I've never seen it. It brought tears to my eyes in a really way.

I told you, I cry. I know you don't, Jimmy. I fucking do. And I cried naked on my bed up. No, no, it wasn't sexual. Jimmy, it wasn't sexual. I sleep naked. And my dog was there.

There's Aubrey, your daughter. She's here. And I was just like, oh, my God. This is a miracle. It's a fucking miracle. Did you think it was a miracle? For that to happen, so many things had to be right for me. Let's face it.

And yeah, it was. Let's face it. And to get the lobs back, he should have put at least three of those away. you know but he just didn't you know he didn't get a good solid hit at it and he gave me a chance to get it back you know but after all that you know the best part of it all was you know I still had to make the shot yeah you know to and then the back hand and then you know to make that shot down the line and you know and that that's when I heard that crowd for the very first time you know in 20 years after the after that and the way they sounded and and what they were able to give me I

finally really appreciated everything that they had given me over that 20 years. I'd never, ever have felt anything like that, Michael. And, you know, like I said, you know, I've done other things after my tennis is over. There's never anything to replace that. Like that moment. Like that moment. And you still didn't cry. No, it won't happen. Did you cry when Aubrey was born, your daughter? Well, I, I, that's about as close. You're, you're, you're, you're, begging for you want me to say you want me to say okay the one cry i did i did yes i i did i did conners cry rob i must say oh listen there there's nothing you know and and uh and i was in for with for both my kids and and um i'm not one of those guys to go back and and and ever say

that you know that that's the greatest thing that ever happened to me because i mean even though it might be but i've had you know like i said before I've had such a ride. Such a good ride. And by the way, you're still young. Yeah, I'm still going. Keep riding. Yeah.

I'm coming to Santa Barbara. We're going to play some ping pong or some shit. I'll get... Do you still play tennis at all for fun? Occasionally. I'm terrible so we could hit. I'll give you a go. I mean, I haven't played since I played with probably Andy Biviano and high school doubles.

Well, I wasn't good. I'm okay. We can go out and we can have some fun. Aubrey, you hear that? Yeah. That's his daughter. You're welcome anytime. And listen, if you get through me, then you've got to take on Aubrey.

Is Aubrey good? Your daughter's good? She can play. Yeah, she can play. Varsity tennis? Where are they like, that's Connor's daughter right there? Don't touch her. He'll beat the shit out of you.

She's got a good serve. She does. Why am I talking like that? Oh, my God. You coached, I didn't know, you coached all these people. You coached Rodick. You coached Maria Sharapova. How did your wife feel about you coaching this hot, beautiful, sexy,

young woman. Was she worried that Maria was going to go for the older guy? No, I don't think that. She wasn't worried. Patty has nothing to worry. Patty doesn't freak out. How long have you been married? 38 years. And not once did she go, Jimmy? No. She's really beautiful. She was actually happy at times that I got out of the house. Was Maria easy to work with? Andy was great to work with. Okay. Well, Andy was a good kid? Yeah. Had a blast with Andy. And I was so almost two years with him, you know, traveling and coaching him and everything. And we had good success.

Who's your favorite athlete of all time? Well, you know, I got to go back, Muhammad Ali, number one, you know, and go back to the time, Wayne Gretzky, you know. Gretzky, the great one. Joe Montana, Larry Bird. You know, I'm going to leave. I love Larry Bird. I'm from Indiana, I grew up in a superintendent of Indiana.

You know, and then, you know, what about Willie Shoemaker? Oh, yeah. Secretariat. What I love about you, all this shit's great. This has been one of the best days of my life. That may be 91 U.S. Open for you. No, this has been pretty special. For me, this is really special.

Thanks. This is, and, but the thing that made me the happiest was reading some of your tweets and you're, you're an 80s fan. You're a Lionel Richie fan. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We just went the other night to see him at the Hollywood Bowl. I've seen him like five.

eight times, whatever. Do you know all the songs? Oh, yeah. If I sang one, would you know the words? Would you sing with me? I gave up my singing. Aubrey, can you bring me that guitar, please? I gave up my singing career, but...

Well, you don't have to really sing it. We can kind of work... Can I hum it? We could croon it. I'll hum along with you. This is Aubrey. Bringing my guitar is amazing. Thanks, Obs.

You're the best. All right, here we go. Here we go. Because I love 80s. Is that in tune? That's... Stuck on you. Got a feeling down deep in my soul

that I just can't lose. And I'm on my way. Needed a friend, ready? Needed a friend. And the way I feel about you, I'll be with you to the end. I'm on my way Mighty glad you stay

That's it There you go Lionel Richie I'm going back into retirement after that Did that just for you my And you like boy George? Oh yeah I mean you like the same show

We should go to an 80s concert together I'm friends with Richard Marks None of my friends care But I like care He's my buddy You know Richard? Oh yeah He and I went to see Lionel

Together Oh you're kidding Yeah that's unbelievable we got to tweet them we got to get together and go see an 80s concert i do it i do this is this has been i mean look having you on i hope you'll come back oh yeah invite me anytime i mean this i didn't look here's what's funny i was so nervous about this freaking on this this interview i have 15 pages of notes and i think i looked at it maybe twice good because it was you're the easiest guy to talk to and you just you're just it's so honest that it's just you say what you

what you want to say that's it say what you mean yeah you know you say i'm i'm 65 and and i say that because i'm proud to be it i'm proud to be here and and uh been through a lot i've done a lot i've enjoyed it a lot and and i don't have i don't have anything that i look back no regrets no regrets that i can say you miss anything oh i'm oh i miss it every day do you still dream about being on the court like i don't dream i don't dream i don't dream you're not a dreamer you're not a cry or who are you jimmy car but i but i miss it uh and you know to go out and and to to put your your name and your reputation and your game on the line every day there's something about that that just that's just special if somebody said jimmy are you the best tennis player to ever live

what would you say i mean that's really not for me to say but but i but i will say this that if you if you say jimmy did you give it everything you had every time you walked out there and you broke your back and bled, you know, for what you were doing, I'd say I was the best at that. That's what I'll say I was the best at, because that's what I won is my legacy, you know, not the winning, you know, everybody wins, you know, but I went out there every time with the understanding that, you know, that's what I love to do. And I wasn't afraid, you know, whether it was five minutes or five hours to stay out there and to play it and to do it and to love every minute of it. So, you know, for me, you know, that's, you know, if people think somewhere down the road that,

A, Connors was pretty good, oh, that's cool. That's all right. But if you say Connors was a great competitor, now you're talking. Mr. Connors, it has been a pleasure being inside of you today. I'm going to make sure there's room for the next time. Yes. Thank you so much. This has been incredible.

What's your Twitter? Jimmy Connors. At Jimmy Connors. Will you follow me? You're on there. Really? I'm going to put you on there right now. Jimmy Connors is going to follow me.

I'm doing it because I'm going to tweet you and say, when am I coming back? You can come back any time. This is a blast. We could talk about anything. We could talk about 80s music. Let's have Richard Marks on here. Oh, wouldn't that be something. Oh, my God.

You're friends with Lino Ritchie. Yeah. Yeah, friends for a long time, you know. Who's your most famous friend besides Lano Ritchie? You. Oh, you hear that guys. old Lex Luthor Old Baldy

Oh, boldie. Come on. I've had a ball. You've been so easy to talk to and it's been so much fun. I love it. Thanks so much. Good being with you.

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