It is widely believed that the constant encouragement and coaching by Connor’s mother, Gloria, forged the competitive fire and honed the skills that made her son one of the greatest players in tennis history. Gloria Connors was an accomplished tennis player herself, who played in the 1942 and 1943 U.S. Championships.

With the formation of the Association of Tennis Professionals union, whose president was Arthur Ashe, Connors found his reluctance to join left him banned from the French Open. At this time Connors began participating, and dominating, in a series of smaller tournaments organized by Bill Riordan, his manager and promoter. In 1974, Connors and Riordan began filing lawsuits, eventually amounting to U.S. $10 million, against the ATP

Connors met and dated Chris Evert in 1974 and the couple planned to marry but the November wedding was called off; the storybook romance and engagement peaked that summer when their relationship became strained.

In 1976, Connors met Bjorn Borg, the new Wimbledon champion, in the final of the U.S. Open where Connors finished as the top ranked player for the third consecutive year. Borg beat Connors comfortably in the 1978 Wimbledon final, but Connors defeated the Swede in the final of the 1978 U.S. Open, which was held for the first time at the Flushing Meadows venue, New York. Connor’s best win during the 1980s, was when he took his second WCT Finals by defeating the defending champion, John McEnroe.

Jimmy Connors remained unchallenged for thirty years with his 161 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings. More recently Connors has been coaching American tennis player Andy Ruddick.

Connors' wife, Patti McGuire, had appeared in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine was Playmate of the Month for the November 1976 issue, and the 1977 Playmate of the Year; she appeared in the same issue as an interview with Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy’s mother Gloria passed away on January 8, 2007, she was eighty-two.

Connors, and his wife Patti, who married in 1980, now live in Santa Barbara, California and have two children.

YUDDY