John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors played out one of the most exciting rivalries in tennis, with no love lost between the pair on court.
A hot-headed figure, McEnroe was once suspended for two months during his career, with the American also receiving a fine.
Since retiring from tennis, McEnroe has enjoyed a lengthy spell as captain of Team World at the Laver Cup.
His former meanwhile turned to coaching, with Connors having enjoyed a successful spell with Andy Roddick.
The pair saw eye-to-eye, which certainly cannot be said of McEnroe and Connors, who between them won 15 Grand Slam titles.
Why Jimmy Connors once stormed off court against John McEnroe
Connors just edged out McEnroe with eight, with the pair having continued their long-standing rivalry into the ATP Senior Tour of Champions.
And speaking to the Independent in November 1998, McEnroe revealed details of one ill-tempered meeting with Connors in September that year.
Discussing their match in Dallas, McEnroe said: “There had been a dispute over a line call early in the first set and as Connors was getting ready to play again someone in the crowd yelled ‘Be fair, Connors’. He got very upset, demanding to know whoever had said that should raise their hand.
“So, from the other side of the net, I raised my hand and said ‘Yeah, be fair’. So he said ‘That’s it’, picked up his bag and walked off. And I thought I’d seen everything.
“They called game, set and match for me but I didn’t want to win that way because tennis is struggling enough as it is, in all honesty, and there were 3,000 people there.
“Jimmy came back after 30 minutes, we split two sets and then we played the 10-point tie-breaker they use in the Seniors instead of a third set. I led 9-8 but choked basically, and he won 11- 9.
“So I thought to myself ‘I’m not shaking this guy’s hand’. But when I looked up he had already sat down. He had upstaged me again.
“I went back to my hotel room and sat there so long thinking about it I missed my flight back to New York.
“I had promised to take my kids to school the next morning but because of worrying about Connors I missed the fricking plane.
“He left the court for 30 minutes, not me, but I ended up the bad guy again. It’s not easy to pull that off but he’s an expert.
“There should be books written about it as an inspiration. I thought I’d seen pretty much everything until this happened. He has manipulated crowds against me for years, he gets them thinking ‘Poor Jimmy’.
“We haven’t spoken since. I’m quite upset that apparently he’s upset at me for reasons I don’t understand. But that’s Jimmy.
“This sort of thing is always what he has needed, to really dislike an opponent and believe everybody is screwing him.
“So he is in his element right now. He seems to be reverting to what I became used to before he started to make an effort to be friendly.”
What was the head-to-head record between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors?
Whether the pair have made amends remains to be seen, but McEnroe clearly wasn’t happy about that meeting in Dallas.
They have crossed paths since given their strong links within the game, with both well-respected thanks to their glittering careers.
| Player | Titles | Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open | Years |
| Jimmy Connors | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1974–1983 |
| John McEnroe | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1979–1984 |
It was McEnroe who was able to have the last laugh regarding their ATP Tour meetings, boasting a 20-14 win-loss record over Connors.
The latter does, however, boast more career titles, with Connors winning 109 times compared to McEnroe’s total of 77.
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