Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe certainly helped set the standard for tennis rivalries, with their battles always played at a high intensity.
McEnroe learned a lot from Connors, although the former did edge out the latter in terms of their head-to-head record.
From their 34 ATP Tour matches, McEnroe emerged victorious 20 times, with Connors triumphing in the other 14.
The pair have remained involved in tennis since retiring, with a handful of players taking over their once world-renowned rivalry.
Novak Djokovic has lost his other Big Three members Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, although he has formed a recent battle with Carlos Alcaraz.
Jimmy Connors names the best player he ever faced
Alcaraz meanwhile has formed an exciting rivalry with Jannik Sinner, with the duo having shared the 2024 Grand Slam honours.
Connors has, however, now revealed whether or not fellow American McEnroe was the best player he ever faced.
“I played [Bjorn] Borg at his peak too!” he said on the Advantage Connors podcast. “I played [Adriano] Panatta. [Ivan] Lendl, [Guillermo] Vilas, Clark [Graebner] at his peak.
“Everybody had their way when they were at their best and able to bring that out. Playing those guys I had to have two, three, maybe sometimes even four different ways to play them because they all played different styles.
“Playing Mac at his peak was [tough] because the points could go so fast. He beat me one time at Wimbledon and it was over before I even got out there.
“He was on and the points were so quick I didn’t have time to get in it. Whereas Borg was the other way, I had time to get in it, but if I wasn’t equal to where he was at that time.
“Some days I did it better than him and some days he did it better than me. It was a different kind of match and a different grind with him. Mac I had to expect two balls a point, whereas with Borg it was 10 balls a point.”
How many Grand Slam titles did Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe win?
Connors clinched a total of 109 ATP Tour-level titles throughout his fantastic career, with McEnroe winning 77.
The former also edged out his nemesis in terms of Grand Slam titles won with eight compared to the latter’s seven.
But amid the rivalry there will have been some level of mutual respect, as is certain to be the case with modern-day rivalries, with Connors aware of the different styles in different eras.
Nick Kyrgios has even taken the tennis rivalry scene to another level, having partnered with his former enemy Novak Djokovic at the Brisbane International.
The Australian also put his differences with Casper Ruud aside earlier this month during their pairing at the World Tennis League.
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