How to Make the Case that Jimmy Connors is the Greatest Tennis Player Ever

In the world of professional tennis, the greatest players of all-time are usually ranked and rated according to how they have fared in what is called the “Open Era”—or all of the time after 1969--the year professionals were first allowed to compete against amateurs in the sport’s four major championships. In that ongoing era spanning nearly 40 years, there have been many great and accomplished champions—from Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe to the holder of the most major titles, Pete Sampras and today’s best player Roger Federer. To many fans however, Jimmy Connors is the standard by which all modern tennis players are measured. For all true Connors fans, here are a few points to make the next time a tennis buddy wants to debate the best of all time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Jimmy Connors won more tournaments than any player in men’s tennis history. His 109 titles are 15 more than his closest competitor (Ivan Lendl-94) and over 30 more than the 77 of third-place John McEnroe.
2. Connors played his best in the biggest events. Despite playing during the same time period as Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Connors won more matches at both the United States Open and Wimbledon than any of them. As a matter of fact, Connors has won more matches at the game’s two greatest tournaments than any man in any era—Open or not.
3. Jimmy Connors was the most consistent player in the history of the Open Era. In a thirteen-year period between 1973 and 1985 he reached the semifinals or better of both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon a remarkable 24 of a possible 26 times. In 19 US Opens between 1973 and 1992 he missed the quarterfinals once. He finished the year ranked in the top five players in the world a record 15 consecutive times.
4. Jimmy Connors is the only player to win the U.S. Open on three different surfaces—grass in 1974; clay in 1976 and cement in 1978, 1982 and 1983. His five wins came over three of the greatest players of all-time—Ken Rosewall, Lendl and the great Borg, who he defeated on the Swede's favorite surface – clay, in 1976. He is currently tied with Sampras for the most championships in Open history (five).
5. In addition to the records mentioned above, Connors has held many other records that have since been either tied or broken by various players. No player, however, has dominated in so many categories. In addition to remaining the all-time leader in tournament victories and matches won at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Connors held the records at his retirement in 1993 for Most Weeks Ranked Number One; Most Consecutive Weeks Ranked Number One; Most Years Ranked Number One; Most Consecutive Years Ranked Number One; Most Years Leading in Prize Money and Most Consecutive Years Leading in Prize Money.