Connors in 1991: What a Year

Jimmy Connors can look back at 1991 and smile.

“It was a very interesting year in a lot of ways. The year surprised me,” Connors said. “I started out this year happy to start playing and ended up having a hell of a five-month run.”

“It’s very difficult to say what the U.S. Open did for me. Not only to my tennis but also my mind and my heart about the game and about the sports fan.”

“I won’t really appreciate it until I am away from tennis totally. When my competing days are over. I can sit down and say ‘ Hey. This was an incredible time !’ ”

Trouble is, Connors’ competing days are not over year as he approaches 1992.

“If I could go out and play next year like I did this year ... that would be pretty nice.”

He plans to give himself and his family a two-month break and hit the sea and the slopes before he comes back to tennis next year -- the year he turns 40.

“What is 40 ? It’s just a number,” Connors said. “I have a feeling once I start, I am going to get in there and have a good goal for myself.”

“If I do that. It will be another year like this year. Away fom from home. Travel. Suitcases. Airplane. Seeing not enough of my family, my wife and kids like that.”

“But on the other hand it’s what I do. It’s tough to accept and I have to block it out of my mind a little bit. But once I do it, I am going to give my whole time to it. My family understands it. I understand it.

“I have a feeling I am going to do it again . And that’s the problem.”

But after concluding this year with a loss in the Grand Slam Cup, he could still smile.

Last year at this time he was recovering from wrist surgery and had dropped in the tennis rankings because of inactivity. Then he came back well enough to qualify for the tournament which gathers the top finishers in the Grand Slam tournaments.

It did not come easy.

“A lot happened when I first came back in February. I was more or less starting over and I was treated as such which is pretty understandable. To be out for a year and to try to come back was my problem.

“To try to come back and be treated like a beginner was a different kind of problem.”

“And that is probably the one thing that shocked me to try to come back and want to play great tennis.”

“A lot of people tried to discourage me from playing the French. They thought I wasn’t ready to play. It was a Grand Slam tournament and not to go in there and play and get off on a wrong foot.”

“I went there with an open mind and played well enough to create some drama and play some good tennis.”

Few could forget Connors’ gut wrenching effort that forced to to default against Michael Chang in the third round at Roland Garros tennis.

It was just the beginning fo Connors’ heroics.

“From that point on was a high. Going to Wimbledon and playing the middle Sunday there with the true sports fans and the way they were doing the wave and cheering for tennis

“Out of all the years I played at Wimbledon and winning and everything, that had to be the best day I ever had there.”

“Then getting away from tennis for five weeks to play Team Tennis. Then to go back to the Open” -- where he simply made the semifinals after beating Aaron Krickstein on his 39th birthday.

“I have never ever, ever, ever played in front of crowds like that. The way they got into the tennis. The support. The cheering. And the way they got into everything about the game.

“I’ve played 20 years and it took me 20 years to get that kind of feeling and reception and to be able to get their appreciation back for what I do

“You just can’t buy that. It took me 20 years to get and you can’t forget that.”