If you’re a tennis fan, you’ve probably heard of tennis champion Jimmy Connors.

Connors was born on September 2, 1952 in East Saint Louis. He was introduced to tennis at a young age by his mother, who was a former professional tennis player. Connors claim to fame was his two-handed backhand stroke, which was also taught to him by his mother.

Connors trained with tennis champion Pancho Segura when he was 16, eventually attending school at the University of California Los Angeles. He only attended college for a year, however, because he wanted to fulfill his dream of becoming a full-time professional tennis player.

It wasn’t a difficult beginning to Connor’s professional career. He started out by winning three Grand Slam tournaments and became the sport’s number one ranked male player, which he held for 159 consecutive weeks. Over the next 10 years, he won four more U.S. Open Singles titles, along with the 1982 Wimbledon Men’s Championship.   

Connors competed in his last match in 1996 and finished with a men’s open-era record of 109 singles titles, 1,337 victories, eight Grand Slam Singles and two doubles championships. He was also ranked in the top 10 in the world for 16 consecutive years.

Learn more:
Visit Jimmy Connor’s official website