Jimmy Connor's best ever?

[don_budge]

?

[gzhpcu]

For those interested the study can be found here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:...l.pone.0017249

[jjktennis]

How can you compare different eras? You can't!
It's like I get asked all the time was Rod Laver the greatest of all time, ok he won 2 grandslams over 10 years apart but 3 of the 4 slams where on grass so I think its hard to say yes he is. Then you have sampras who won most of his grand slam titles on grass and never won the french. I think there are numerous players who could of been the best players but may not have turned up to play all the time. Look at Safin he had everything but couldnt put it together all the time, then there is Philipousis who never did anything even though he had some of the cleanest strokes iv seen, So this debate will go on for ever and it all comes back to personal opinion.
And I say Agassi

[worldsbestcoach]

I am fortunate to have seen . . .

Counting majors is not a good way to compare players of different eras. For instance, Connors did not play the French in the prime of his career because the French Open & ITF did not let Jimmy play that tournament in 1974, Connors' best year. (Connors would probably have won all for major in the calendar year 1974.) The ITF punished Connors because he signed up for World Team Tennis that year, and the ITF considered WTT a threat to its control of the game at that time.

So Connors was not allowed to play the French that year, and Connors was so ticked off that he refused to play the French for many years thereafter. Of course, Connors beat Borg in the 3 biggest clay court matches that the 2 players ever met in -- the 1975 U.S. Open semi, the 1976 U.S. Open final, & the 1974 U.S. Clay Court final in Indianapolis. And Connors won majors on all surfaces -- grass, hardcourt, & clay. Connors only competed in the Australian in his prime years, a couple of times. He won it once, and lost to Newcombe in the final once, due to Newc's masterful lobbing -- believe it or not.

Decades ago, it was common for Americans to eschew even Wimbledon, because of the hassle of the ocean trip by boat. Of course, they rarely competed in Australia. Similarly, the top Europeans would often skip the U.S. Championships.

Another factor to consider, of course, is that in yesteryear, the top players would often sign pro contracts, and would not be allowed to compete in majors. And, when international tournament tennis became "open" to pros in 1968, for over a decade the French & Australian were somewhat second class events that many good players did not enter. The French used low-pressure balls, & both the French & Australian offered so little prize money. Tournaments such as the WCT championships were much more important in the early years of open tennis than were the French & Australian.

Connors might not have had a perfect serve. Sometimes his forehand was shaky. But he always competed as hard as he could in every match, in every tournament -- even minor tournaments. Other players cannot say that. Even Nadal does not compete in every match as hard as Connors did. I like Agassi, but in many matches & in some years, Agassi did not try his best.

Even on the senior circuit, Connors dominated many years, and refused to lose. He would beat even Borg & McEnroe on the senior circuit. Jimmy showed great heart . . and he had an astounding backhand, both 2-fisted topsin & 2-fisted slice. He could stretch for his groundstrokes in ways that current players cannot. If Nadal had a hard time against Tomic at the Australian, just think of the trouble that Connors might give Nadal.

I do not know who the best players ever are . . but I know that older players are underrated -- just as the greats today (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic) will be underrated by future generations. I have been lucky to see in person so many great players (many of them many times): Gonzales, Segura, Rosewall, Laver, Newcombe, Roche, Nastase, Smith, Ashe, Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Agassi, Becker, Federer, Nadal, Smith Court, Moffitt King, Evert, Navratilova, Austin, Seles, & Graf.

But I admire the longevity that many great players had. If a player truly is great, and avoids injury, that player should be able to make a great showing on the pro circuit for a long time. Among current players, Federer & Nadal both have performed at the highest levels with admirable consistency . . so they are obviously among the all-time greats.