Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Is Jimmy Connor's Being Ripped Off By Modern Tennis Historians?

Who has won the most tournament titles in ATP history? Most matches?    Most tennis fans know that Jimmy holds these records with 109 tournament titles and 1337 match wins, clearly out-distancing all other great champions.  Novak is having a phenomenal year in 2011, but Connors went 99-4 in 1974 with 14 tournament victories to go along with his 3 majors, and he was banned from the French that year for playing World Team Tennis.  Also, Jimmy was number 1 in the world for 5 straight years from 1974-1978.  This was unprecendented before Sampras' 6 year reign. 

The argument here is not for "Greatest Player Ever" status, but to acknowledge that the playing field changed when Sampras went on his Grand Slam historic run.  Back in the 70's and 80's players weren't concerned about counting slams as the main way to measure greatness.  The most important gauges for dominance were being #1, winning Wimbledon and the US Open and winning tournaments-all tournaments.  Many top players didn't even bother to make the trip to OZ.  Does that sound like they thought the Australian had historical importance? 

Connors is tied for fifth in majors with 8 but is often left out of the top ten in critics' eyes.  His 5 number 1's tie him with Federer in the modern era with only Sampras eclipsing that mark.  His match wins and tournament wins are second to none.  Federer has 69 titles and has won 3 this year.  Sampras has 64.  When you think of winning and tennis Connors 109 titles has to be in the conversation.       

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