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CONNORS:
BACK WITH A PURPOSE
Can
Jimmy upend Johnny Mac?
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
There
are numerous days in the life of 49-year-old Jimmy Connors when
the
eight-time Slam champ chooses endless fairways over square green
and red
boxes, but those hours are the relaxing ones while the chunk of
time that
Jimbo spends on court at the Tennis Club Santa Barbara returning
blasts from
mid-20s Open players are much more intense.
It's
been a little more than 10 years since Connors last snared world
attention with his amazing geriatric run to the U.S. Open semis
but when you
listen to the Californian resident talk these days, you can still
hear echoes
of that rebel yell that shook the foundation of Louie Armstrong
Stadium.
According
to Jimbo, there will never be another Jimbo.
"Do
I see anyone that reminds me of me? No," Connors said. "And
you guys
better be happy about that. I think you had trouble enough handling
me when I
was at my best. If anyone came around and played like that with
my attitude, I
don't know how you could accept that. It's better to leave well
enough alone
and leave my coffin closed."
After
a 10-month hiatus from Champions Tour play, Connors will return
to the
court this week in the Siebel Champions at Stanford University.
Why Connors is coming back remains somewhat of a mystery. The
hundred-millionaire doesn't need the money, he has plenty of titles
under his
belt and he has never really taken to the obligations that go
along with
being a public figure – meaning
that he barely tolerates anyone who isn't
bowing to him. Hence, his always tense relationship with the press.
BEATING
THE BABES
It
must be that Connors misses competition, seeing whether the game
he hones
weekly in Santa Barbara against the likes of Ojai Open champ Peter
Jeshke
(Connors beats this solid satellite level play regularly) is still
good enough to take down the likes of John McEnroe, Pat Cash and
maybe even new Champions addition, Petr Korda. Connors has played
twice this year – once
a senior event in Mexico in January and then in World TeamTennis
this summer, where he posted a 12-15 record against a group of
mostly ATP Tour doubles player (not bad for a 49-year-old).
"To
be able to play and see how things are going will be a new experience,"
Connors said of his reason for picking up his T-2000 again putting
himself on
the line. "To get out there with a purpose – it's
fun for me. But I don't know if playing one event [is missing
competition]. Competition is doing it day in and day out, working,
playing and striving on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis
– which
I did for so many years. I'm trying to play up to the standards
that satisfy me and hopefully that tickles other people to death.
They use to buy a ticket to see what level I could reach – now
they have to see if I can reach any level."
Of
course, if Connors didn't believe that he could play up to his
own
standards, he wouldn't be taking to the court at all.
"You
got that right," he said. "That's exactly right. I'm
putting a little extra pressure on myself even before the event
starts. I've put myself under extra pressure throughout my career
so we will see how it goes."
Connors,
who all but conceded his kingship of the tour to McEnroe in '99,
will get a shot at Johnny Mac on Oct. 20, a contest he is surely
anticipating.
McEnroe
is now the unofficial king of the tennis broadcast media and is
hugely popular amongst tennis fans for his sometimes enlightening,
sometimes bizarre opinions. Connors, who became a fan favorite
during his latter years, is nowhere near as visible or as frequently
discussed, which must rankle him.
McEnroe
said the other day that the last time he checked, Connors was
angry
at him for some undefined reason and added that is how it's been
ever since
he's known him – their
relationship is dependent on Connors' many moods.
Jimmy said he's ready to bury the hatchet.
"Off the court I hope things mellow a bit," Connors
said. "We've spent way
too
much time creating something [our rivalry] that is much too important
and
interesting not to be friends when our rackets are put away."
The
last time they played, in London in Dec. 1999, Mac crushed him
6-1, 6-0.
Connors said he isn't surprised that it is his great rival who
has become the
Champions Tour main man.
"Someone
had to take my place and be the one who played that kind of tennis
day in and day out and created the interest," Connors said.
" If I was still
was able to do it at 48, 49 an 50 years old, then I wonder if
that would be
the right thing. I haven't seen [the Champions Tour] much for
the last two
years but with the results he's had, the way he trains and works
at it; he's
probably more fit now. He's around tennis with his commentary,
plays every
event in Europe and in the States and that's what you expect from
him."
NEW
YORK TIES
Even
though he is a knighted New Yorker due to his five U.S. Open titles,
Connors says he didn't turn into the '01 U.S. Open much, despite
the fact
that his Aussie personality clone (and their games are terribly
different
either), Lleyton Hewitt, was coming into his own. However, Connors
does like
Lleyton's spunk
"I
had the opportunity a year ago to practice next to Lleyton and
I like
him," Connors said. " I liked his style, his scrappiness,
the way he would
get in and grind it out and give everything that he had every
time he was
going for his shots. If that what it takes to win a Us. Open,
then he
deserves it."
On
9-11-01, the one-time hero of Louie Armstrong Stadium, got out
of bed,
switched on the news and was stunned.
"I
had feelings from 'Are they making a movie?,' to not knowing what
really
what happened until I saw the other plane fly into the building,"
Connors
said. "The amount of emotion that you go through from Sept.
11th until four
weeks later has been an amazing up and down ride for everybody.
"The good feeling to come out of this is the feeling of togetherness
and
having everyone walk in one direction, which is what we should
be doing all
the time as opposed to having something like this happen in our
own country
to make people get together the way they should. For the families,
the
firefighters, policemen and everyone that reacted to this tragedy,
that's
what you expect from people in New York. They are gritty people
who delve
right into what it takes to get things right. It’s been great
the way Mayor
Guiliani has handled the whole thing with compassion and feeling.
Will we
ever be normal again? No. It will be very difficult to rewind
the tape and
get back to the feelings we had on Sept. 10. Without forgetting
those who
died, we all need to try to get back to doing our normal, daily
business.”
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