What John McEnroe once admitted Jimmy Connors was better than him at and the lesson he learnt from his greatest rival

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John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors played out a thrilling rivalry for several years, much to the delight of their followers and indeed all tennis fans.

And it was McEnroe who was able to retire with the last laugh in terms of their ATP Tour head-to-head record.

McEnroe won 20 of their meetings compared to the 14 wins secured by Connors, although the latter did edge out the former in terms of Grand Slam titles.

Connors won an impressive eight Grand Slams during his glittering career, with McEnroe agonisingly just one behind his rival with seven.

Neither, however, managed to emerge victorious at the French Open, while McEnroe failed to lift the Australian Open trophy.

What John McEnroe once admitted about Jimmy Connors’s effort levels

They certainly didn’t get on while battling it out on the court, although McEnroe did admit on the 1998 ATP Senior Tour of Champions that he learned one key value from his rival.

“I’ve learned a lot of things from Jimmy, for example the effort level,” he told the Independent. “I have never seen anybody try as hard as him.

“No matter how hard I tried, and I consider that pretty hard, it didn’t match up to him. So once again he was one up on me.

“He is still playing amazing tennis. I have no idea how he does it, he’s incredible. He must put a lot more time into it than he admits to. He is still obsessed with the game.

READ MORE: Why Jimmy Connors once stormed off court and refused to play against John McEnroe during fiery match between the pair

“I don’t see myself doing this for more than another year or two because you can’t half-ass it, you have to commit to eight to 10 tournaments or forget about it.

“I’ll be 40 in February but I’m playing well and I’m proud of the way I’ve reclaimed my confidence and fitness.

“I can foresee myself doing this to the point where I go out there and people say ‘My God, that guy is 42 years old and he can still kick my ass’.”

John McEnroe v Jimmy Connors among best-ever tennis rivalries

McEnroe versus Connors was an intense rivalry, although the former’s battles certainly weren’t limited to those with the latter.

He also played out exciting rivalries with the likes of Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl over the course of his career.

READ MORE: The biggest fine John McEnroe received which saw him suspended for two months

And McEnroe even took such a spirit into the Laver Cup, enduring plenty of tense meetings with fellow captain Borg.

Becker and Edberg was another iconic rivalry, while like McEnroe, Novak Djokovic has been central to several intriguing battles with other players in more recent times.

The Serbian is the man to catch with 24 Grand Slam titles, with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray having all tried and failed to topple Djokovic.

Nadal and Federer meanwhile had their own conflict to worry about, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner now very much taking over the mantle in that regard.