1974-1978: the matches that Connors has lost

K

KG1965

Legend
From 1974 to 1978 Connors was number one at the end of year.
Jimbo back number one for a short period in 1982 and 1983 but in this thread I just want to deal with the five-year period 1974-78.
Most critics think that 1975 was attributable to Ashe, 1977 to Vilas, and 1978 was of Bjorn Borg, but the ATP ranking is clear.
I will not discuss in this thread of knowing who was the number one year-end but only a detailed analysis of the defeats to Jimmy Connors in that period, being the same period, the one with the best percentage in the Open Era.

1) CONNORS 1974-78 .... 92.8% (398-31)
2) BORG 1977-81 .... 91.5% (344-32)
3) LENDL 1985-89 .... 91.0% (352-35)
4) FEDERER 2004-2008 ... 90.7% (381-39)
5) DJOKOVIC 2011-2015 .... 90.0% (358-40)
6) MCENROE 1981 to 1985 .... 89.6% (363-42)

IMO, you can argue that
• Borg and Federer were probably the best in four years consecutive best but, in the fifth have partially failed,
• the record of Borg and especially Ivan Lendl does not consider exhibitons no-ATP, and no-ATP tournaments,
• During the period 1974-75 Connors took advantage of some easy victories in a dozen tournaments micky mouse / Master250 circuit Riordan IPA,
• Federer and above all Nole have had more difficult opponents and then their record in the 5 consecutive years is considered perhaps the best.

The fact is that the best percentage is of Connors and I want to analyze here all the defeats of the American.
 
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1974: 4 match lost + 2 WO

F Omaha- MEILER 6-3 1-6 6-1
2 Washington - V. AMRITRAJ WO
Q Nottingham - SMITH 4-6 6-4 6-0
3 Toronto - GISBERT 7-6 6-2
F South Orange – METREVELI WO
Q S. Francisco – PARUN 6-3 3-6 6-4

Omaha and Washington are small tournaments of the Circuit Riordan .
South Orange a discreet tournament over har tru .
Nottingham , Toronto and San Francisco are great events .

Jim lost by three good players and a great champion ( Stan Smith ) .
 
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KG1965 said:
From 1974 to 1978 Connors was number one at the end of year.
Jimbo back number one for a short period in 1982 and 1983 but in this thread I just want to deal with the five-year period 1974-78.
Most critics think that 1975 was attributable to Ashe, 1977 to Vilas, and 1978 was of Bjorn Borg, but the ATP ranking is clear.
I will not discuss in this thread of knowing who was the number one year-end but only a detailed analysis of the defeats to Jimmy Connors in that period, being the same period, the one with the best percentage in the Open Era.

1) CONNORS 1974-78 .... 92.8% (401-31)
2) BORG 1977-81 .... 91.5% (344-32)
3) LENDL 1985-89 .... 91.0% (352-35)
4) FEDERER 2004-2008 ... 90.7% (381-39)
5) DJOKOVIC 2011-2015 .... 90.0% (358-40)
6) MCENROE 1981 to 1985 .... 89.6% (363-42)

IMO, you can argue that
• Borg and Federer were probably the best in four years consecutive best but, in the fifth have partially failed,
• the record of Borg and especially Ivan Lendl does not consider exhibitons no-ATP, and no-ATP tournaments,
• During the period 1974-75 Connors took advantage of some easy victories in a dozen tournaments micky mouse / Master250 circuit Riordan IPA,
• Federer and above all Nole have had more difficult opponents and then their record in the 5 consecutive years is considered perhaps the best.

The fact is that the best percentage is of Connors and I want to analyze here all the defeats of the American.
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Actually Connors was 430-44 or 436-44 depending on the source for 1974 which for many years had him at 99-4 but some have him at 93-4. The winning percentage is 90.7 or 90.8.

1974-93-4 or 99-4
1975-83-10
1976-100-12
1977-70-11
1978-84-7
Total 430-44 or 436-44

Here are some sites that have Connors at 99-4 for 1974.
http://jimmyconnors.net/about/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Connors
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Jimmy_Connors.aspx
http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Connors_Jimmy.html
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/04/1975-ashe-upsets-connors-wimbledon-final/54777/#.VkY4Yb9qM4I
 
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KG1965 said:
1974: 4 match lost + 2 WO

F Omaha- MEILER 6-3 1-6 6-1
2 Washington - V. AMRITRAJ WO
Q Nottingham - SMITH 4-6 6-4 6-0
3 Toronto - GISBERT 7-6 6-2
F South Orange – METREVELI WO
Q S. Francisco – PARUN 6-3 3-6 6-4

Omaha and Washington are small tournaments of the Circuit Riordan .
South Orange a discreet tournament over har tru .
Nottingham , Toronto and San Francisco are great events .

Jim lost by three good players and a great champion ( Stan Smith ) .
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One small correction, KG. South Orange was played on grass in 1974. They switched to clay, with the US Open, in 1975.
 
1975: 7 matches lost + 1 WO

F Melbourne – NEWCOMBE 7-5 3-6 6-4 7-6
F New York – GERULAITIS WO
Q Nottingham – TANNER 7-5 6-3
F Wimbledon – ASHE 6-1 6-1 5-7 6-4
Q South Orange – V. AMRITRAJ 4-6 7-6 6-4
F US Open – ORANTES 6-4 6-3 6-3
F Stockholm – PANATTA 4-6 6-3 7-5
F Wembley – DIBBS 1-6 6-1 7-5

New York is a small tournaments of the Circuit Riordan .
South Orange a discreet tournament over har tru .
The others are all great events (worst is Melbourne!!)

Jim lost by good players and a great champions, comes practically always in the final , and losing 5 very important .
 
KG1965 said:
1975: 7 matches lost + 1 WO


Jim lost by good players and a great champions, comes practically always in the final , and losing 5 very important .
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That's why I believe it's quite possible he's the most consistent player of all time. He was almost never bad. Even all time greats generally have a number of poor matches in a year but Connors almost never. Heck the man almost never mishit a shot just to show how machine-like he was in his level of play.
 
Can someone give the number of the matches and tournaments Connors pulled out or gave forfait? i read in many critical comments, for instance by Newcombe, that he had a habit of pulling out ot matches when feeling not well. In 1974 he pulled out at least out of 2 tournaments.
 
pc1 said:
That's why I believe it's quite possible he's the most consistent player of all time. He was almost never bad. Even all time greats generally have a number of poor matches in a year but Connors almost never. Heck the man almost never mishit a shot just to show how machine-like he was in his level of play.
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I think you're right , Jim always played all season at Level9 , has had less successful years between 1974 and 1984 for various reasons :
- won lawsuit against the ATP-Ashe-Kramer (1975 ) ,
- injuries (1977 ) ,
- marriage (1979 ) ,
for the rest of the case was only the combination Borg & Mac simply played better at the peak ( Level10 ) .
 
urban said:
Can someone give the number of the matches and tournaments Connors pulled out or gave forfait? i read in many critical comments, for instance by Newcombe, that he had a habit of pulling out ot matches when feeling not well. In 1974 he pulled out at least out of 2 tournaments.
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You hit a good target .
Connors is the player , I think , at least in Open history who retired more .
In the period that we discuss ( 1974-78 ) already seen ... and was very young ...

After, he will retire much more.
 
When I think of consistency with Connors, I think even more of Grand Slams. He could sometimes lose to significantly lesser players. In 78 he lost to Teacher, Borowiak and Pfister. Now, they are not horrible losses. Not losing to the 100th ranked player, but at the time, were any of them in the top 30?

Take Borg 77 thru 81. Who is he losing to? There might be some in there to 30 to 40ish ranked players, but how many truly horrible lossed. Gigantic upsets.

For 12 years, at the 2 biggest tournaments, Connors made 22 out of 24 semis. Lost in the quarters to Tanner, a top 10 to 15ish player at the time? Lost in the round of 16 to Curren.
That was pretty big, but I'm guessing he was still at least top 30ish. Which, imo, is a pretty bad loss although not terrible. I don't consider the 85 loss to Curren as bad. IIRC, he was more established by then. LOL, that's one bad loss over a dozen years in the 2 biggest events. 12 years is a long time.

Remarkably consistent. I agree, KG. His peak is not Borg or Mcenroe's. Their apex beats his. His apex was pretty damn good, though.
 
1976: 5 match lost + 2 ret.

Q Boca Raton – WHITLINGER 2-6 Ret.
F Salisbury – NASTASE 6-2 6-3 7-6
F La Costa – NASTASE 4-6 6-0 6-1
Q Wimbledon - TANNER 6-4 6-2 8-6
Q Boston – RAMIREZ 6-3 3-6 6-3
Q Los Angeles – GOTTFRIED 6-6 Ret.
S Stockholm – COX 7-6 3-6 7-6

In 1976 the circuit Riordan no longer exists and the tournaments in which Jim takes part are all of a good standard .
He retired twice during the match .
The defeats are only 5 (Nastase n.3 ATP, Ramirez n. 5, Tanner n. 11 and Cox n. 17), playing all great tournaments .

IMO is the best year of Connors ( along with 1978 but in 1978 Borg is to peak) .

Los Angeles is less important in comparison with the beginning of the 70s, lost only three great tournaments ( Wimbledon , Boston and Stockholm ) .
 
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dgold44 said:
KG, what amazing part of Connors game that does not get the proper credit - is his VOlleys!!!

Connors had superb volleys.
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Connors was always looking for the opportunity to approach the net when he had a player out of position. He always wanted to put the volley away instead of playing some safe deep volleys.

Connors could hit the ZONE also like in his match against Tanner at the 1975 Wimbledon or his matches against Rosewall at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1974. The general feeling of most is that McEnroe's best is superior to Connors' best but I am not sure about that. Connors clearly was the most solid ball striker and had clearly more power off the ground. McEnroe had the superior net play and serve.
 
1974-1976:
16 Lost + 3 WO + 2 ret.

16 lost:
- 8 Finals
- 1 Semi
- 6 Q
- 1 Round 3

Lost 8 match ahead of the final in three years .

Only Nasty defeats him 2 times .
 
1977: 9 match lost + 1 retire + 4 WO

F Boca Raton – BORG 6-4 5-7 6-3 (Important exhibition 4draws that gave no ATP points but counts as ATP tournament)
F Philadelphia – STOCKTON 3-6 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-2
F Toronto WCT – STOCKTON 5-6 Ret.
F Challenge Cup WCT – NASTASE 3-6 7-6 6-4 7-5
1 Houston WCT – PANATTA 6-1 7-5
2 Queenn’s – FEAVER WO
F Wimbledon – BORG 3-6 6-2 6-1 5-7 6-4
Q Tournament of Champions – STOCKTON WO
Q North Conway – SOLOMON 1-6 6-4 6-1
F Indianapolis – ORANTES 6-1 6-3
Q Boston – FIBAK WO
F US Open – VILAS 2-6 6-3 7-6 6-0
2 Perth – R. LEWIS WO
RR Challenge Cup WCT – STOCKTON 6-5 6-5

Jimmy retires 5 times ( 4 WO + 1 ret . ) - I think it is a record for a player who is number 1 ATP !!

Jimmy loses
- 2 times from Stockton and Borg ,
- with Stockton in a round robin of the WCT Challenge Cup but then won the tie- break 5th of the final against Tanner ,
- 5 finals,
- over clay/har tru from Borg , Vilas , Solomon and is disintegrated from Orantes in final at Indy ,
- for the first time at the first round , a first round abnormal.. against Panatta , a top 10 ( !! ) .

Excluding Lewis and Feaver because WO , lost by great players .
 
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1978: 6 match lost

RR Masters GP – VILAS 6-4 3-6 7-5
F Boca Raton – BORG 7-6 3-6 6-1
1 Tournament of Champions – Borowiak 6-3 6-0
2 Las Vegas – Pfister 7-6 3-6 6-3
F Wimbledon – BORG 6-2 6-2 6-3
2 Tokyo – Teacher 4-6 6-4 6-3

Jimmy does not retreat !!!
He lose a great match against Vilas in Round Robin Master Grand Prix but then won the tournament in the final against Borg .
Against great opponents lose only by Borg ( as in 1977 in Boca Raton & Wimbledon ) .

Instead he lost for the first time against three outsiders ( Teacher , Borowiak and Pfister )

Teacher was in the top 30 , it will also number seven, 4 years later.
Pfister was in the top 30 , coming in the top 15, 3 years later .
Borowiak was 98 at the end of 1978 but it was number 20 in 1977 , when then beat Connors was probably in the top 30 .

With Teacher and Pfister lost fighting and 3rd set.

Vs Jeff Borowiak lost 6-3 6-0 !!! (no trimming a gap like that in the period 1974-78 ).

Apart from the odd defeat Borowiak a another fabulous year .
 
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Considerations:
1 ) WO & retires .. 10 times
2 ) 7 WO, 2 in the final ( South Orange 74 + NY 1975)
3 ) 3 ret . with 1 in final ( Toronto WCT )

Lost four times by Borg ( 2 in 1977 and 2 in 1978 ) .
Nastase , Vilas , Panatta, Orantes beat Jimbo 2 times .

31 defeats including 16 in the final.
1 in semifinal and 7 in the quarterfinals .

If we exclude from the calculation the two losses in Round Robin because Jimbo is not deleted , only 5 losses in the five years before of the quarterfinal :
- 2 1round
- 2 2round
- 1 3round
 
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Connors volleys. I would not use the word superb. I think that applies to someone like Mcenroe. Someone who could make consistently difficult volleys.

With Connors, it was more that he was decisive and aggressive with more, relatively speaking, easy volleys. He wasn't going to win matches volleying off his shoe tops half the match. He couldn't consistently pull off the amazing volleys mcenroe could and lacked his touch around the net. Connors was an aggressive volleyer as he was from the baseline. Segura said it in one of his books. Said that he and Newcome had the most aggressive first volleys in tennis.

This was written in 1975 where Connors was truly an all court player, imo. Pancho Segura's Connors is an all court player, not a baseliner. Later periods, not as quick to come in. 74 and 75 Connors, just look at the matches that are out there.

I wanted to check on Borg's losses 77 to 81 since I don't recall him quite as well as Connors who was my favorite player. He had a couple of clunkers in there. Bruce Masters in 1979. Andrew Pattison in, I think, 1977. Peter Fleming at the 1978 wct challenge cup. I also saw more than a few walk offs or retirement with injuries. More than I recalled, anyway.

Someone once said that Connors could deliberately throw his own back out when he wanted to. When he really didn't fell like playing and wanted an injury excuse. But for the life of me I can't remember who said it. Mind you, this is 35 to 40 years ago I read it. Maybe Bill Riordan after their breakup. Might have been him, but I'm not sure. He did have a seemingly high amount.

Connors was also involved in 3 tournaments that didn't finish. 1980 La Costa which was rained out at the semi stage. 1981 Monte Carlo and 1984 Rotterdam were finals that were postponed but never finished. That's 3 more titles he might have had.
 
WCT said:
Connors volleys. I would not use the word superb. I think that applies to someone like Mcenroe. Someone who could make consistently difficult volleys.

With Connors, it was more that he was decisive and aggressive with more, relatively speaking, easy volleys. He wasn't going to win matches volleying off his shoe tops half the match. He couldn't consistently pull off the amazing volleys mcenroe could and lacked his touch around the net. Connors was an aggressive volleyer as he was from the baseline. Segura said it in one of his books. Said that he and Newcome had the most aggressive first volleys in tennis.

This was written in 1975 where Connors was truly an all court player, imo. Pancho Segura's Connors is an all court player, not a baseliner. Later periods, not as quick to come in. 74 and 75 Connors, just look at the matches that are out there.

I wanted to check on Borg's losses 77 to 81 since I don't recall him quite as well as Connors who was my favorite player. He had a couple of clunkers in there. Bruce Masters in 1979. Andrew Pattison in, I think, 1977. Peter Fleming at the 1978 wct challenge cup. I also saw more than a few walk offs or retirement with injuries. More than I recalled, anyway.

Someone once said that Connors could deliberately throw his own back out when he wanted to. When he really didn't fell like playing and wanted an injury excuse. But for the life of me I can't remember who said it. Mind you, this is 35 to 40 years ago I read it. Maybe Bill Riordan after their breakup. Might have been him, but I'm not sure. He did have a seemingly high amount.

Connors was also involved in 3 tournaments that didn't finish. 1980 La Costa which was rained out at the semi stage. 1981 Monte Carlo and 1984 Rotterdam were finals that were postponed but never finished. That's 3 more titles he might have had.
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Connors volleys : I agree with you, Jimmy had a good volley ( but Mac >>) , however, had a great approach / attack the net .
He could not win with the s & v because the serving was small.

Clashes VS Borg :the question is very simple but I write again .

I did not understand when you write of " Bruce Masters in 1979. Andrew Pattison in , I think , 1977. Peter Fleming at the 1978 wct challenge cup " . What do you mean?

Many WO even at a young age and by number 1 ATP .
He may sometimes have been bluffing , but also lost the finals ....
Why retire on purpose?

Connors did not finish three finals ( Nottingham 76 , Monte Carlo 81 and Rotterdam 84) . I do not think he could win the last two .

He could win in Rancho Mirage in 1980 when the tournament was interrupted in the semifinals to continuous rain for days .
La Costa is Rancho Mirage ? It's the area of Indian Wells , right?
 
KG, Masters and Pattison are players BORG lost to. I'm not sure if that is the cause of your confusion. This thread is about Connors so maybe you think I'm talking about Connors losses?
I was just comparing some bad Borg losses to bad Connors losses and how Borg had some that I forgot about.

Rancho Miarage. I was oing it from memory and thought it was La Costa. I think it eventually moved to La Quinta and then the super series tournament it is today. What is it, Indian Hills now?

One thing about Connors peak vs Mcenroe's. The biggest stroke advantage between the two is Mcenroe's serve advantage. Connors fanboy that I was, I don't think he ever matched mcenroe's 1984 peak. He toyed with Connors at Wimbledon and I saw Connors play much worse than he did that day. He wasn't great by any means, but he wasn't spraying errors everywhere either. Watching that match gave me, up until that point, as much of a feeling of hopelessness as I had ever had as a Connors fan.

There was a thread about Connors serve and some posted in it how it served him plenty well. Against most players, yes. Against Borg and Mcenroe it's where it hurt him. Those guys were hard enough to beat without spotting them 20 plus points in free points off the serve. I did the stats on a bunch of his matches with those guys. It certainly wasn't alwa6ys the case, but they almost always had a significant lead. This off of memory. The 1980 US Open semi might have been 59-20 for Mac. !977 Wimbledon I think I had Borg close to 30 points ahead. Not having a bigger serve definitle hurt him against those 2.
 
WCT said:
KG, Masters and Pattison are players BORG lost to. I'm not sure if that is the cause of your confusion. This thread is about Connors so maybe you think I'm talking about Connors losses?
I was just comparing some bad Borg losses to bad Connors losses and how Borg had some that I forgot about.

Rancho Miarage. I was oing it from memory and thought it was La Costa. I think it eventually moved to La Quinta and then the super series tournament it is today. What is it, Indian Hills now?

One thing about Connors peak vs Mcenroe's. The biggest stroke advantage between the two is Mcenroe's serve advantage. Connors fanboy that I was, I don't think he ever matched mcenroe's 1984 peak. He toyed with Connors at Wimbledon and I saw Connors play much worse than he did that day. He wasn't great by any means, but he wasn't spraying errors everywhere either. Watching that match gave me, up until that point, as much of a feeling of hopelessness as I had ever had as a Connors fan.

There was a thread about Connors serve and some posted in it how it served him plenty well. Against most players, yes. Against Borg and Mcenroe it's where it hurt him. Those guys were hard enough to beat without spotting them 20 plus points in free points off the serve. I did the stats on a bunch of his matches with those guys. It certainly wasn't alwa6ys the case, but they almost always had a significant lead. This off of memory. The 1980 US Open semi might have been 59-20 for Mac. !977 Wimbledon I think I had Borg close to 30 points ahead. Not having a bigger serve definitle hurt him against those 2.
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Good post, thank you, I understand.
Serve: Mac > Borg >>> Connors .
I remind you , however, that until 1977 Connors - Borg 6-1 !!

Palm Springs ....Rancho Mirage ... La Quinta .... Indian Wells .
 
Start to draw the first conclusions :

ONLY TOURNAMENTS ATP 1974-1978

94 holdings
74 finals reached
54 titles
16 lost finals
1 final unfinished ( NOTTINGHAM 1976)
2 final WO
1 final lost to retire during the match

1 semifinal lost ( ** )
It means that 75 times out of 94 tournaments participated Jimmy goes in the semifinals .
( ** ) He's won 74 semifinals on 75 !!!!!!!... !!!!... !!!!

7 quarterfinals lost
7 other wo / retires
In only 5 occasions it no reaches the quarterfinals .
It means that 86 times out of 94 tournaments participated Jimmy goes in the quarterfinals !!
 
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31 match lost:
- 13 on carpet (indoor)
- 2 on hc (open)
- 7 in grass (open)
- 9 on clay/har tru (open).

Titles 54:
- 32 on carpet (indoor) ... 71%
- 9 on hc (open)... 82%
- 5 in grass (open)... 42%
- 8 on clay/har tru (open)... 47%

Conclusions for surfaces :
- Indoor carpet surface clearly more successful ;
- Hardcourt open almost unbeatable but disputed a few tournaments before Flushing Meadows;
- Jim suffering the grass;
- He suffered much less the American clay ( har tru ) where they beat him in a few .
 
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I want to continue to see what the results have deteriorated in the years after .

1979: 10 match lost + 2 WO + 1 ret .
1980: 14 match lost + 2 ret .

I always thought that 1980 was better than 1979 , because even though he had won fewer tournaments ( 6 vs. 8 ) had reduced the gap against Borg and Mac , but maybe Borg and Mac played worse than in 1979 , because Connors lost :
- 7 times in 1979 by Borg & Mac ( 5 times by Borg + 2 by Mac ) + only other three losses;
Excluding Borg & Mac ...
Q Palm Sprins - TANNER 4-6 6-3 7-6
2 New Orleans - TOM GULLIKSON 3-6 6-4 6-2
S RG - PECCI 7-5 6-4 5-7 6-3
Tanner was tough as Pecci on clay .
The only defeat with a player that is not excellent vs Gullikson .

WO & retires:
RR Masters GP - MCENROE 7-5 3-0 ret.
RR Masters GP - ASHE WO
2 North Conway GONZALES WO

- 5 times in 1980 by Borg & Mac ( 2 Borg + 3 Mac ) and ... 9 times by others including Gerulaitis twice with whom he had never lost , Portes and Gullikson ....

In 1979 he was beating old rivals but Borg and Mac had clearly passed .
In 1980 gets closer to Borg , he beats Mac but also lost by Gerulaitis and many others.
The decline began in 1980 .
 
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1980
match defeated excluding Borg & Mac & WO/ret.
S Masters GP - GERULAITIS 7-5 6-2
RR Salisbury WCT - AMRITRAJ 6-3 6-2
2 Montecarlo - CAUJOLLE 7-6 6-2
2 Forest Hills Tournament of Champions - AMRITRAJ 6-4 4-6 6-3
S RG - GERULAITIS 6-1 3-6 6-2 6-4
Q Boston - CLERC 3-6 6-4 6-3
3 Washington - PORTES 6-4 7-5
S Cincinnati - GONZALES 6-2 7-6
2 S. Francisco - MAYOTTE 3-6 7-6 7-6

The defeat vs. a Clerc shakers on har tru there is , but the others are all against players not lofty , but not at the top of his career .
Exclude from the reasoning Vitas Gerulaitis , great player but before 1979 had not won ever vs. Jim .
Conclusion : in 1980 something is wrong , the performance is poor .
 
Excluding the defeats against Borg & Mac , in 1979 Connors has won 96% of the match !!
In 1980, the percentage drops to 83 % inexorably .
Even without the defeats suffered against Borg & Mac Connors not reach 90 % ( remains 89 % ) .

1981 will be worse than 1980.

84,7 % of wins and also removing the three defeats against Borg ( zero vs Mac ) no more than 87 % .
Q Philadelphia - FIBAK 7-6 0-6 6-2
F Hamburg - MCNAMARA 7-6 6-1 4-6 6-4
Q RG - CLERC 4-6 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-0
3 North Conway - HIGUERAS 6-4 6-1
1 Montreal - WALTKE 6-4 6-3
3 Cinicnnati - GERULAITIS 7-5 7-6
Q San Francisco - TEACHER 6-4 7-5
S Stockholm - S.MAYER 6-3 6-3

He can no longer win on har tru but also on the carpet hc and beat opponents who had not won before ever as Fibak , Sandy Mayer and Gerulaitis .

Between 1979 and 1981 he lost 36 times , 5 times more than in the five years analyzed previously .
10 vs Borg, 5 vs Mac, 21 others.
 
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1981 was the worst year since 1973 .

Even the titles won are few and moderately unimportant .
La Quinta in the final vs Lendl & Wembley 5th set on the Mac are good .
Brussels & Rotterdam no ( Rotterdam was a great event , but not in 1981 ) .

1981 , however, it is interesting to three aspects :
1 ) it is the last full year of Bjorn Borg, beat Connors 3-0 ;
2 ) becomes the number one Mac , but is not in a state of grace and in the final at Wembley had leads 2 sets to zero by Jimmy ;
3 ) for the first time Connors prepares seriously RG , he reached the final at Hamburg & Monte Carlo ( where the final is not finished ) and RG plays very well losing to the 5th set Clerc .
It's clearly the best Connors on European red clay .
 
Sadly, most posters here seem to be about 15 years old with the brain capacity of that age. Jimmy is seriously under-appreciated here. I hated him at the time, but have grown to respect his longevity and tenacity, as well as his ability to evolve his game as he aged.
 
Not me as I saw jimmy play in 80s and he was epic

I loved his style of play and warrior intensity


Unfortunately I was too young to see all the greats before 1983 or so

So when kg talks I listen
 
Kg seems to be the expert here in tennis history and I am guessing the 70s and early 80s was his favorite

Can u elaborate more on Harold Solomon ???
 
dgold44 said:
Kg seems to be the expert here in tennis history and I am guessing the 70s and early 80s was his favorite

Can u elaborate more on Harold Solomon ???
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Unfortunately I've never seen play Solomon , excluding parts of the lost final at RG .

But I do remember some things of his.

I write a thread
 
1982 is the year of the resurrection of Connors taking advantage of :
- withdrawal of Borg,
- Mac not at the top,
- Lendl who suffered too the rhytm/pace imposed by Connors .
90 matches: 78 win + 10 loss + 1 WO + 1 ret.

RR Masters GP - MCENROE 6-2 7-5
RR Masters GP - TANNER 7-6 6-7 7-6
F Philadelphia - MCENROE 6-3 6-3 6-1
S Brussels - GERULAITIS 6-2 7-5
F Rotterdam - VILAS 0-6 6-2 6-4
F Milan - VILAS 6-3 6-3
Q Hamburg - GOMEZ 5-0 ret.
RG RG - HIHUERAS 6-2 6-2 6-2
S Toronto - GERULAITIS WO
S Cincinnati - LENDL 6-1 6-1
F S.Francisco - MCENROE 6-1 6-3
S Sidney - G.MAYER 6-3 2-6 6-3

In 1982 only comment on the ATP is a little restrictive because they were held big tournaments no-ATP , but we decided to comment ATP matches .
Jimmy lost 10 matches , but every against Mac ( 3 ) or good players .
It means that many tournaments played no-ATP ( including many exhibitions vs Borg )

Not a good start losing net from Mac , and especially from Gerulaitis, takes two beatings by Vilas .
Then ( if you exclude two blows : from Higueras to the RG and Cincy by Lendl ) does not stop until Flushing M.

Back to number one after so many years but after Fl . Meadows only focuses on exhibitions and loses the scepter in favor of the Mac .
 
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The 1982 percentage is 88 % .
1974, 1975 , 1976, 1977 , 1979 ( despite Borg ) >> 1982.
1982 > 1977 ( but had retired many times ) .
1982 >>> 1980 & 1981
 
dgold44 said:
Kg seems to be the expert here in tennis history and I am guessing the 70s and early 80s was his favorite

Can u elaborate more on Harold Solomon ???
Click to expand...
dgold44, if you are interested I made the thread , called Solly 's Moon .
Interesting things come out.
 
1983
S Masters GP LENDL - 6-3 6-1
2 La Quinta - BAUER 6-3 6-4
2 Brussel - CURREN 6-2 7-5
S Los Angeles - KRIEK 2-6 6-4 6-4
Q RG - ROGER VASSELIN 6-4 6-4 7-6
4 Wimbledon - CURREN 6-3 6-7 6-3 7-6
S Montreal - LENDL 6-1 6-3
S Cincinnati - MCENROE 6-7 6-1 6-4
Q Dallas - S.MAYER 6-4 7-5
S Tokyo - S. DAVIS 6-3 6-4
F Wembley - MCENROE 7-5 6-1 6-4

63 matches: 52 win + 11 loss
11 loss: 2 Mac + 2 Lendl + 7 others (Bauer, Roger Vasselin, Davis no top players).

Jimmy plays a few tournaments ATP , and few match because participates in many tournaments no- ATP.
So 11 defeats are too many for the few facts match .

1984
S Masters GP LENDL - 6-3 6-4
2 Madrid - TOM GULLIKSON 4-6 7-5 6-3
F Masters WCT - MCENROE 6-1 6-2 6-3
S Tournament of Champions - LENDL 6-0 6-0
S RG - MCENROE 7-5 6-1 6-2
S Quenn's - MCENROE 6-2 6-2
F Wimbledon - MCENROE 6-1 6-1 6-2
S Toronto - MCENROE 2-6 6-2 6-3
S Cincinnati - WILANDER 7-6 1-6 7-6
S US Open - MCENROE 6-4 4-67-5 4-6 6-3
S Stockholm - WILANDER 6-7 6-3 6-3
S Wembley - LENDL 6-4 6-2

1984 is the last year where he played strong .
It's amazing how lost 11 times out of 12 top players ( Mac , Lendl and Wilander ) .
Among other always wins !!
The last gasp win against a top player will be the final SuperSeiko in Tokyo where massacres Lendl .
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the stats....very interesting. Connors was remarkable in his consistency even tho' his overall slam count is lower. Always felt that '84 was a lost opportunity...Mac was his major roadblock, as your recap shows. Otherwise, it was a very strong year. Curious as to what his 1987 looked like? He had a mini-resurgence that season....
 
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