I've been closely following tennis since the Laver,Newcombe, Rosewall era and in my opinion the sweet spot period for tennis was the 70s & 80s when Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Nastase, Vilas , and Edberg were ar the top of their game. Those were exciting times.
I was calling the center service line during the match. At one point I was receiving Mac's serve. I had to stay down, got hit in the elbow and came up to make the call. I had the biggest bruise on my elbow. It was black and blue. People at the club asked me what happened to my elbow... I said, Mac hit me in the elbow. Great times...
I have been watching tennis since the early 1970s. I always enjoyed watching Jimmy Connors for his attacking style and his excellent return game... and I always enjoyed watching John McEnroe because of his enormous skill on the court (great hands) especially at the net. And I have seen McEnroe go off on line judges and chair umpires many many times. But in this match he was such a ridiculous cry baby. Any close call that didn't go his way.... whaaaaa! whaaaa! whaaaa! I don't know how Jimmy put up with it. But Connors persevered and came through with an amazing victory. A 46 year old Connors whipped the 39 year old cry baby. I have to wonder if John is embarrassed by the way he acted back then - when he watches this today.
This was an epic match between Conners and McEnroe. I was calling the center service line... Myron Kruger was the chair empire. Conners walked off when a fan said .. Come on Jimmy, play fair. He (the fan) was challenging the call. Mac made Raul and Connie, the line empires, cry...
@@blackfalkon4189 - hi. Don’t quite agree. It’s true they both were hot tempered guys. But Mac reminded me of a spoiled brat. Jimmy seemed just to dislike everyone he faced. I prefer real rivalry in sports. Fed-Nader is too tame. Liked Jimmy’s fierceness. And he accomplished a lot more than Mac did.
@@peterflorino9016 _"Mac reminded me of a spoiled brat"_ that's cause Mac is younger Jim also had his bratty moments czcams.com/video/Gjj3D5XqjO4/video.html lol
@@peterflorino9016 Could not agree more. Jimmy was a hot head and crude at times but he mellowed and became less so. But he never stopped being fun. McEnroe was the biggest whiney baby in the world. At these matches when he’s 39, he complains over every call. He wasn’t fun, he was repulsive. Jimmy added life to the game and laughter, McEnroe added stress, misery and repulsion. Nothing made me happier than a Connors-McEnroe battle ending in a Connors victory. Sadly, not enough of them. Jimmy was older or there would have been.
when you think about it, the no hand shake at end was perfect way to end this match between two guys who hated each other. If they had shaken, it would have been contradictory. if Connors was same age as Mac, he wins 85% of all their matches. he was the much better all around player.
Love the last point, Connors showing how to use court position. He takes 2 steps into the court expecting a weak reply off the wide backhand that takes Mac into the corner, then uses the high reply to advance to the net and win the match. A great lesson right there on court position.
yep, for someone who was known for his rally saavvy, connors knew how to close out a point by anticipating a weak or short shot and using it to set up an approach.
Yes. Watching them all these years later with my husband gone it makes me sad. We loved watching all those matches together. We went to all the WCT matches in Dallas. I had a friend who knew Lamar Hunt and he got Jimmy to sign a program for me for my birthday. I was so young and of course it was a bigger thrill to me than having an Elvis autograph. “To Lily, Happy Birthday on my winning night! Love ya, Jimmy Connors” 😍 And he won!
I am 52 years old and a tennis fan since the early 1970's. I know that John McEnroe was famous for losing his temper and he went over the top far more often than he should have. Having said that the officials in this match were just awful with their wrong calls and late calls. It was an entertaining match to watch and Jimmy Connors played well to win the champions tie break.
The body guard went up to Conners when he left the court and explained to him that he was an investor in the Nuveen and desperately needed to go back and finish the match.
jimbo seemed exhausted right at the start of the match. I wonder how he could make it to the end! Great Upload! Tennis nowadays is so boring! Players mostly without charisma.
Koudos to John McEnroe for uploading a match that he lost to a fierce rival.John was such an artist, & have always appreciated his integrity &honesty.He never tried to manipulate crowds or umpires.He seemed to never have a fillter or perception concerns.Misunderstood!
CONNORS WINS final tie break 11 to 9--!!!!!! McEnroe deserved the unsportsmanlike penalty when he got in the face of that female line judge. He should have gotten another one when he went to argue with the umpire after that call. In a tournament in Kansas City about 10 years after this match took place I saw McEnroe do the same thing to a female line judge who happened to be a close friend of mine. I was about 4 rows behind the baseline when this happened. The line judge (my friend) made the call on the sideline when McEnroe attacked her in this manner. She was well trained and did exactly what she was trained to do; namely do not make eye contact with the player and move over to the center line position for the start of the next point. McEnroe stepped in very closely behind her his lips moving (I could not hear what he was saying) and staring at the back of her head as she slowly moved to her next station. I was very disappointed that McEnroe was not called/penalized for this bad conduct. Later that week I asked my friend what McEnroe was saying to her as he walked along behind her. She simply said that he had called her some pretty bad names; she didn't use the words specifically but she said they were vile. This woman was always a perfect lady; I have never seen nor heard her say an evil thing about anybody or anything. She was sweet and kind, and until that day she was a HUGE fan of McEnroe. I personally never was on the McEnroe bandwagon as I always saw him for the evil boor that he is to this very day. I couldn't care less about his talents, his accomplishments and I certainly do not agree with his celebrity status. Let's put it this way. If I met the most gorgeous woman in the world - wonderful figure, gorgeous face - wonderfully dressed and groomed and after 10 minutes with her I realized she had a black heart; I would walk away from her and avoid any further contact with her. McEnroe has a lot to apologize for; but he never will. I actually think his personality falls into the category of Narcissistic - anti-social if not actually sociopathic.
What a lot of people didn't know at the time was that Jimmy Connors was the producer and part owner of the Champions Tournament. He was the one who convinced Nuveen to back it once he got several "senior" stars to make appearances. Once that happened, Cadillac also came on board. So when Johnny Mac started fooling around with line calls and intimidating judges, the "boss" wasn't there to watch him grandstand. His position was he would stop playing so that Johnny Mac wouldnt get DQ'ed and bring a bad rep to "his" tour. Also on the flip side, these tours did not have full time line crews. Most of them were organized by the tour Chief Umpire and consisted of local college and high school tennis coaches with local high school kids being the runners. So was JC upset coming back onto the court? Sure, he was trying to keep a tour going on the personalities of some of the players without it destroying quality tennis. I would imagine he told JohnnyMac, "hey this aint Wimbleton or the US Open...this is a simple seniors tour"."I will let my chief take care of the line calls, but I need you to play 100%" You don't think JC saw where some of those balls were landing? Egads he was the closest of all of them. But he wasn't going to air it out on the court. Who came out of that meeting hot, why it was McEnroe! JC took the dump publicly to save face for McEnroe. As for the rest of some of those Champions Tours, some were good, some were really bad. There was one in Chicago where Borg agreed to join and play. It was advertised heavily. The only problem was Borg was out of tennis shape and broke. Not wanting to lose his appearance fees by withdrawing early, he proceeded to take several service aces in a row on purpose so he could wrap it up and "lose". Boy did that leave a bad taste with the fans. I don't think he appeared in the tour again the rest of the year.
is Jimmy's backhand considered a one hander or two hander? ANd I believe Borg's was the same way. I'm somewhat surprised none of the pros use that technique today.
I think Mac and Jim were in on it, way past their peaks, probably said to each other in the locker room "Hey what the hell, Let's milk the crowd and just argue for the sake of it, it sells tickets" 😅
This was technically an exhibition match that the players behavior got way out of line. It’s sad to see that these players just couldn’t play tennis and let the calls stand.
Forget all about the tennis, does it get any better than Vic Braden in the preview? He seems VERY relaxed with the whole situation as he leans back in the banana lounge and consumes, dare I say, "another" highball! lol He is he just way to happy with himself, the situation at The Four Seasons Resort and Club and life in general. I'm tipping thirst/dehydrations wouldn't have been issues for Vic on this day.
I was there and saw this. After a disputed call, they both walked off to the dressing room. Didn’t know if they would finish, but after around 15 min, they both decided to finish the match. Maybe they just needed a rest! Anyway, they came back to finish and someone yelled at the beginning to Connors... “Play Fair, Jimmy!” Jimmy quickly turned around to the stands I was sitting, and said... “ Who said that?” We were up around 4-5 rows. Wish now, one of us had hollered back to Connors... “I said it!”
I was calling the center service line @5:12. Conners was an investor in the Nuveen tournament. His bodyguard went into the locker room and talked him into playing the rest of the match. My unsupervised 15 year old and 5 year old were in a box seat near your seats fighting during the match as well. What a nightmare...
Connors is easily my favorite player of all-time, but I have to admit that McEnroe was the better player at his peak. Jimmy was competitive at the highest level for longer than John was, though.
Look how exhausted they are. It's why players retire from the top level well before 40. In this match Conners was 46 and John was 40ish. Still put on a good show though.
Only wish there were more of this type of rivalries today. Fed and Rafa and Joker. No excitement as they are often shown as friends. I really got excited to watch Jimmy play Lendl or Mac or Borg. Loved Nasta great entertainment and great tennis. Only problem I have with Fed is his obvious in deference for Jimbo. Guess he didn’t approve of his playing style.
109 = the number of ATP tournements won by THE all-time legend. 139 = ATP + 30 tournements which were not under ATP's authority when Jimbo won them (but became ATP later and so should be counted) 149 = 139 + 10 tournaments "exhibition" which are not counted and rightly so
To be considered a "titan" I would think you'd need some manners. None of those two guys ever had any unfortunately. Today, looking back on them, they look funnier than they really were back then. The no handshake here is just not even conceivable today.
Yes, Connors went to where it is normal to met, and John didn't show up. The looser should seek out the winner and shake hands. The champion should have to go walking around looking for his congratulations.
McEnroe deserved the unsportsmanlike penalty when he got in the face of that female line judge. He should have gotten another one when he went to argue with the umpire after that call. In a tournament in Kansas City about 10 years after this match took place I saw McEnroe do the same thing to a female line judge who happened to be a close friend of mine. I was about 4 rows behind the baseline when this happened. The line judge (my friend) made the call on the sideline when McEnroe attacked her in this manner. She was well trained and did exactly what she was trained to do; namely do not make eye contact with the player and move over to the center line position for the start of the next point. McEnroe stepped in very closely behind her his lips moving (I could not hear what he was saying) and staring at the back of her head as she slowly moved to her next station. I was very disappointed that McEnroe was not called/penalized for this bad conduct. Later that week I asked my friend what McEnroe was saying to her as he walked along behind her. She simply said that he had called her some pretty bad names; she didn't use the words specifically but she said they were vile. This woman was always a perfect lady; I have never seen nor heard her say an evil thing about anybody or anything. She was sweet and kind, and until that day she was a HUGE fan of McEnroe. I personally never was on the McEnroe bandwagon as I always saw him for the evil boor that he is to this very day. I couldn't care less about his talents, his accomplishments and I certainly do not agree with his celebrity status. Let's put it this way. If I met the most gorgeous woman in the world - wonderful figure, gorgeous face - wonderfully dressed and groomed and after 10 minutes with her I realized she had a black heart; I would walk away from her and avoid any further contact with her. McEnroe has a lot to apologize for; but he never will. I actually think his personality falls into the category of Narcissistic - anti-social if not actually sociopathic.
+51Dss Well said. I have heard McEnroe be gracious off-court and believe he is a good commentator, but I was surprised and disappointed at his behavior in this match, at his age and stage of career.
I'm a great admirer of McEnroe's tennis (particularly his doubles skills!), and I always will be! But as for his personality, he seems like a pretty ordinary spoiled rich guy, full of himself, and constantly angry at everybody else. I find him so uninteresting as a person that I threw his autiobiography in the trash just a couple of weeks ago. But I will never grow tired of re-watching the matches he played in his prime!
GOATAli Not at all. I love his backhand--a preview of the Agassi mechanics, less to go wrong. Take it over McEnroe's bh any day. Connors gets low to the ball with knee bend; great stuff.
Might be one of the dumbest comments ive ever read on here. Until Agassi, Connors had the best return of serve in tennis history. BAR NONE. He hit his groundstrokes in so many different ways. Pretty flat for the most part, but had topspin as well. He also was one of the only guys, if not the only guy, that had a two hand mini slice, where he hit down on the ball and kind of shoveled the ball over the net. Lastly, the guys footwork was impeccable. With the exception of shots he had to really stretch for, he had great technique of those short lil pitter patter steps so that his body was ALWAYS in the same position when he hit the ball. To say his style was ugly is just stupid.
I've been closely following tennis since the Laver,Newcombe, Rosewall era and in my opinion the sweet spot period for tennis was the 70s & 80s when Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Nastase, Vilas , and Edberg were ar the top of their game. Those were exciting times.
I was calling the center service line during the match. At one point I was receiving Mac's serve. I had to stay down, got hit in the elbow and came up to make the call. I had the biggest bruise on my elbow. It was black and blue. People at the club asked me what happened to my elbow... I said, Mac hit me in the elbow. Great times...
i think i see you at the 1:00.47 mark behind johnny mac.
Jimmy looked exhausted from the first point to the last. And that last point shows what a great position player he was. Long live Jimbo!
Jimmy Connors best player in every time!!!
I have been watching tennis since the early 1970s. I always enjoyed watching Jimmy Connors for his attacking style and his excellent return game... and I always enjoyed watching John McEnroe because of his enormous skill on the court (great hands) especially at the net. And I have seen McEnroe go off on line judges and chair umpires many many times. But in this match he was such a ridiculous cry baby. Any close call that didn't go his way.... whaaaaa! whaaaa! whaaaa! I don't know how Jimmy put up with it. But Connors persevered and came through with an amazing victory. A 46 year old Connors whipped the 39 year old cry baby. I have to wonder if John is embarrassed by the way he acted back then - when he watches this today.
This was as good and as close as any of their matches. And the best man won. Hallelujah!
This was an epic match between Conners and McEnroe. I was calling the center service line... Myron Kruger was the chair empire. Conners walked off when a fan said .. Come on Jimmy, play fair. He (the fan) was challenging the call. Mac made Raul and Connie, the line empires, cry...
The pressure to be a line judge in this match... fewwww
Loved watching Jimmy play. No one like him. Loved it even more when he beat McEnroe.
these guys had the same mentality (hot temper) so you either like both or dislike both
which means you're both weird
@@blackfalkon4189 - hi. Don’t quite agree. It’s true they both were hot tempered guys. But Mac reminded me of a spoiled brat. Jimmy seemed just to dislike everyone he faced. I prefer real rivalry in sports. Fed-Nader is too tame. Liked Jimmy’s fierceness. And he accomplished a lot more than Mac did.
@@peterflorino9016 _"Mac reminded me of a spoiled brat"_
that's cause Mac is younger
Jim also had his bratty moments
czcams.com/video/Gjj3D5XqjO4/video.html
lol
@@peterflorino9016 Could not agree more. Jimmy was a hot head and crude at times but he mellowed and became less so. But he never stopped being fun. McEnroe was the biggest whiney baby in the world. At these matches when he’s 39, he complains over every call. He wasn’t fun, he was repulsive. Jimmy added life to the game and laughter, McEnroe added stress, misery and repulsion. Nothing made me happier than a Connors-McEnroe battle ending in a Connors victory. Sadly, not enough of them. Jimmy was older or there would have been.
I'm a Mac guy for the game but love Jimmy too for his life story and more!
Jimmy you're the best player for ever ! Italy love you !!!
McEnroe is 39 here. When Connors was 39, he was in the U.S Open semis.
Nicely put &so true👌
connors has the best tennis style...aggressive!!
when you think about it, the no hand shake at end was perfect way to end this match between two guys who hated each other. If they had shaken, it would have been contradictory. if Connors was same age as Mac, he wins 85% of all their matches. he was the much better all around player.
Love the last point, Connors showing how to use court position. He takes 2 steps into the court expecting a weak reply off the wide backhand that takes Mac into the corner, then uses the high reply to advance to the net and win the match. A great lesson right there on court position.
yep, for someone who was known for his rally saavvy, connors knew how to close out a point by anticipating a weak or short shot and using it to set up an approach.
Wonderful memories
Two great genius tennis craftsmen
Yes. Watching them all these years later with my husband gone it makes me sad. We loved watching all those matches together. We went to all the WCT matches in Dallas. I had a friend who knew Lamar Hunt and he got Jimmy to sign a program for me for my birthday. I was so young and of course it was a bigger thrill to me than having an Elvis autograph. “To Lily, Happy Birthday on my winning night! Love ya, Jimmy Connors” 😍 And he won!
I am 52 years old and a tennis fan since the early 1970's. I know that John McEnroe was famous for losing his temper and he went over the top far more often than he should have. Having said that the officials in this match were just awful with their wrong calls and late calls. It was an entertaining match to watch and Jimmy Connors played well to win the champions tie break.
Jimmy number one fore ever !!!
its cool watching these legends play with better camera tech
The body guard went up to Conners when he left the court and explained to him that he was an investor in the Nuveen and desperately needed to go back and finish the match.
jimbo seemed exhausted right at the start of the match. I wonder how he could make it to the end! Great Upload!
Tennis nowadays is so boring! Players mostly without charisma.
no way he was exhausted. just hadn't really gotten the fire stoked at that point.
The chair umpire is the father of ATP player Mitchell Krueger (who was four years old when this was played). Mitchell’s highest ATP ranking is 147.
Myron is a great umpire. I was calling the centers service line in the match. Myron held his cool and stood up to Mac!
17:30 is when Mac starts to argue with umpire
inaguantable este pibe... le permitieron todo!
connors el mas grande.!
Koudos to John McEnroe for uploading a match that he lost to a fierce rival.John was such an artist, & have always appreciated his integrity &honesty.He never tried to manipulate crowds or umpires.He seemed to never have a fillter or perception concerns.Misunderstood!
"He never tried to manipulate crowds or umpires"??
You are a comedic genius, I have to say!
Makes me laugh that Connors got tired of waiting at the net for McEnroe to shake his hand; wonder if he did at some point after the match...
CONNORS WINS final tie break 11 to 9--!!!!!! McEnroe deserved the unsportsmanlike penalty when he got in the face of that female line judge. He should have gotten another one when he went to argue with the umpire after that call. In a tournament in Kansas City about 10 years after this match took place I saw McEnroe do the same thing to a female line judge who happened to be a close friend of mine. I was about 4 rows behind the baseline when this happened. The line judge (my friend) made the call on the sideline when McEnroe attacked her in this manner. She was well trained and did exactly what she was trained to do; namely do not make eye contact with the player and move over to the center line position for the start of the next point. McEnroe stepped in very closely behind her his lips moving (I could not hear what he was saying) and staring at the back of her head as she slowly moved to her next station. I was very disappointed that McEnroe was not called/penalized for this bad conduct. Later that week I asked my friend what McEnroe was saying to her as he walked along behind her. She simply said that he had called her some pretty bad names; she didn't use the words specifically but she said they were vile. This woman was always a perfect lady; I have never seen nor heard her say an evil thing about anybody or anything. She was sweet and kind, and until that day she was a HUGE fan of McEnroe. I personally never was on the McEnroe bandwagon as I always saw him for the evil boor that he is to this very day. I couldn't care less about his talents, his accomplishments and I certainly do not agree with his celebrity status. Let's put it this way. If I met the most gorgeous woman in the world - wonderful figure, gorgeous face - wonderfully dressed and groomed and after 10 minutes with her I realized she had a black heart; I would walk away from her and avoid any further contact with her. McEnroe has a lot to apologize for; but he never will. I actually think his personality falls into the category of Narcissistic - anti-social if not actually sociopathic.
Anyone know of any other matches with Vic Braden commentary?
What a lot of people didn't know at the time was that Jimmy Connors was the producer and part owner of the Champions Tournament. He was the one who convinced Nuveen to back it once he got several "senior" stars to make appearances. Once that happened, Cadillac also came on board. So when Johnny Mac started fooling around with line calls and intimidating judges, the "boss" wasn't there to watch him grandstand. His position was he would stop playing so that Johnny Mac wouldnt get DQ'ed and bring a bad rep to "his" tour. Also on the flip side, these tours did not have full time line crews. Most of them were organized by the tour Chief Umpire and consisted of local college and high school tennis coaches with local high school kids being the runners. So was JC upset coming back onto the court? Sure, he was trying to keep a tour going on the personalities of some of the players without it destroying quality tennis. I would imagine he told JohnnyMac, "hey this aint Wimbleton or the US Open...this is a simple seniors tour"."I will let my chief take care of the line calls, but I need you to play 100%" You don't think JC saw where some of those balls were landing? Egads he was the closest of all of them. But he wasn't going to air it out on the court. Who came out of that meeting hot, why it was McEnroe! JC took the dump publicly to save face for McEnroe. As for the rest of some of those Champions Tours, some were good, some were really bad. There was one in Chicago where Borg agreed to join and play. It was advertised heavily. The only problem was Borg was out of tennis shape and broke. Not wanting to lose his appearance fees by withdrawing early, he proceeded to take several service aces in a row on purpose so he could wrap it up and "lose". Boy did that leave a bad taste with the fans. I don't think he appeared in the tour again the rest of the year.
is Jimmy's backhand considered a one hander or two hander? ANd I believe Borg's was the same way. I'm somewhat surprised none of the pros use that technique today.
I think Mac and Jim were in on it, way past their peaks, probably said to each other in the locker room "Hey what the hell, Let's milk the crowd and just argue for the sake of it, it sells tickets" 😅
They are still playing at a high level.
Electric match. I miss those days of the Nuveen tour.
A-T-O-M-I-C JIMBO!!
This was technically an exhibition match that the players behavior got way out of line.
It’s sad to see that these players just couldn’t play tennis and let the calls stand.
Jimmy Connors, il mio campione!
Forget all about the tennis, does it get any better than Vic Braden in the preview? He seems VERY relaxed with the whole situation as he leans back in the banana lounge and consumes, dare I say, "another" highball! lol He is he just way to happy with himself, the situation at The Four Seasons Resort and Club and life in general. I'm tipping thirst/dehydrations wouldn't have been issues for Vic on this day.
Great Players!
Vic Braden is so delighted...
Handshake?
I was there and saw this. After a disputed call, they both walked off to the dressing room.
Didn’t know if they would finish, but after around 15 min, they both decided to finish the match.
Maybe they just needed a rest! Anyway, they came back to finish and someone yelled at the
beginning to Connors... “Play Fair, Jimmy!” Jimmy quickly turned around to the stands I was
sitting, and said... “ Who said that?” We were up around 4-5 rows. Wish now, one of us had
hollered back to Connors... “I said it!”
I was calling the center service line @5:12. Conners was an investor in the Nuveen tournament. His bodyguard went into the locker room and talked him into playing the rest of the match. My unsupervised 15 year old and 5 year old were in a box seat near your seats fighting during the match as well. What a nightmare...
Did McEnroe not shake hands at the end?
McEnroe was born 2 decades too early. I wonder if he played in this era with hawkeye etc if he would have spat the dummy as frequently.
When Mac came out, his shorts were all wrinkled. He looked a mess. He was cursing at the ball boys. I said, kids don't listen.
Connors is easily my favorite player of all-time, but I have to admit that McEnroe was the better player at his peak. Jimmy was competitive at the highest level for longer than John was, though.
And Jimmy was seven years older.
I know what the comment was...A fan said, Jimmy play fair...
Vic still around?
Look how exhausted they are. It's why players retire from the top level well before 40. In this match Conners was 46 and John was 40ish. Still put on a good show though.
Vic Braden was the greatest tennis player who ever lived. Look at his stats!
Braden taught me how to throw a football.
Braden has some great books to teach tennis players trajectory. Amazing!!!
Connors!!!
Take that mac. Connors forever
how about ken rosewall for return of serve ?
Only wish there were more of this type of rivalries today. Fed and Rafa and Joker. No excitement as they are often shown as friends. I really got excited to watch Jimmy play Lendl or Mac or Borg. Loved Nasta great entertainment and great tennis. Only problem I have with Fed is his obvious in deference for Jimbo. Guess he didn’t approve of his playing style.
Might add, I believe Fed is the GOAT but head on, same age, Conners wins half of those matches maybe 60%.
They gave Jimmy a few extra tournament wins, he has 109, not 139...
109 = the number of ATP tournements won by THE all-time legend.
139 = ATP + 30 tournements which were not under ATP's authority when Jimbo won them (but became ATP later and so should be counted)
149 = 139 + 10 tournaments "exhibition" which are not counted and rightly so
These two do not like each other....very obvious. Poor sportsmanship at the end.
To be considered a "titan" I would think you'd need some manners. None of those two guys ever had any unfortunately. Today, looking back on them, they look funnier than they really were back then. The no handshake here is just not even conceivable today.
What a match. Disappointed to see no handshake after the match.
So many bad calls. Jeez, can't blame McEnroe one bit.
John did not want to be near Jimmy.
Jimmy has great backhand.better than Borg's backhand.
wonder if anyone in the stands was rooting for Mcenroe....
Just when u thought u had connors beat , was when u were most vulnerable
they keep saying "Civilized society " , I just saw it there .....No hand shake between empire and players ..... What a shame
‘98 looking like ‘89
Mac still mad??
Didn't even shake hands. 😅😅😅
some things never change!
mc enroe had Reason! ! the ball was 10 cm. out!!
didnt see a hand shake. Connors hung around the net cant say McEnroe was a sportsman
MCENROE THE GOAT
I love Mcenroe vs Connors it is like a backyard match in one's yard. I brought beer.
no handshake from the consummate brat, mr Mcenroe
Ben Webb.. better than being known for shitting in your pants at work.
It was Connors that sat down first.
Connors was never anything less than a complete DICK to McEnroe, so even this was a seniors event, no love lost.
Yes, Connors went to where it is normal to met, and John didn't show up. The looser should seek out the winner and shake hands. The champion should have to go walking around looking for his congratulations.
He and Jimmy never ever liked each other
McEnroe deserved the unsportsmanlike penalty when he got in the face of that female line judge. He should have gotten another one when he went to argue with the umpire after that call. In a tournament in Kansas City about 10 years after this match took place I saw McEnroe do the same thing to a female line judge who happened to be a close friend of mine. I was about 4 rows behind the baseline when this happened. The line judge (my friend) made the call on the sideline when McEnroe attacked her in this manner. She was well trained and did exactly what she was trained to do; namely do not make eye contact with the player and move over to the center line position for the start of the next point. McEnroe stepped in very closely behind her his lips moving (I could not hear what he was saying) and staring at the back of her head as she slowly moved to her next station. I was very disappointed that McEnroe was not called/penalized for this bad conduct. Later that week I asked my friend what McEnroe was saying to her as he walked along behind her. She simply said that he had called her some pretty bad names; she didn't use the words specifically but she said they were vile. This woman was always a perfect lady; I have never seen nor heard her say an evil thing about anybody or anything. She was sweet and kind, and until that day she was a HUGE fan of McEnroe. I personally never was on the McEnroe bandwagon as I always saw him for the evil boor that he is to this very day. I couldn't care less about his talents, his accomplishments and I certainly do not agree with his celebrity status. Let's put it this way. If I met the most gorgeous woman in the world - wonderful figure, gorgeous face - wonderfully dressed and groomed and after 10 minutes with her I realized she had a black heart; I would walk away from her and avoid any further contact with her. McEnroe has a lot to apologize for; but he never will. I actually think his personality falls into the category of Narcissistic - anti-social if not actually sociopathic.
+51Dss Well said. I have heard McEnroe be gracious off-court and believe he is a good commentator, but I was surprised and disappointed at his behavior in this match, at his age and stage of career.
I'm a great admirer of McEnroe's tennis (particularly his doubles skills!), and I always will be!
But as for his personality, he seems like a pretty ordinary spoiled rich guy, full of himself, and constantly angry at everybody else.
I find him so uninteresting as a person that I threw his autiobiography in the trash just a couple of weeks ago.
But I will never grow tired of re-watching the matches he played in his prime!
Connors had the ugliest tennis style.
GOATAli Not at all. I love his backhand--a preview of the Agassi mechanics, less to go wrong. Take it over McEnroe's bh any day. Connors gets low to the ball with knee bend; great stuff.
+GOATAli True, Connors was not graceful. But I notice he beat a younger opponent with a prettier style at the age of 46.
Might be one of the dumbest comments ive ever read on here.
Until Agassi, Connors had the best return of serve in tennis history. BAR NONE. He hit his groundstrokes in so many different ways. Pretty flat for the most part, but had topspin as well. He also was one of the only guys, if not the only guy, that had a two hand mini slice, where he hit down on the ball and kind of shoveled the ball over the net.
Lastly, the guys footwork was impeccable. With the exception of shots he had to really stretch for, he had great technique of those short lil pitter patter steps so that his body was ALWAYS in the same position when he hit the ball.
To say his style was ugly is just stupid.
8 grand slams and 160 straight weeks at #1, I'll take that style any day o'the week,
McEnroe the forever punk