Jimmy Connors
From the early 1970s to the mid-90s, tennis champion Jimmy Connors embodied men's tennis in all its brash and crowd-pleasing glory; a shaggy-haired bad boy from East St. Louis who ushered the sport out of its genteel amateur era by grunting, screaming, and blasting through the polite silence of courtside spectators. In his 24 years as a professional, Connors won 8 grand slam singles titles, and to this day, holds the all-time record for 109 ATP singles titles won. Jimmy Connors has captivated tennis fans with his aggressive play and colorful life away from the sport.
"A lot has been written about me, my family, my on-court and off-court life. Some of it is true, a lot of it is bullshit, and none of it is by me. This book is going to change that. People may think they know Jimmy Connors. They don't, but they will after they have read my book." —Jimmy Connors
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Books
The Outsider: A Memoir
The Outsider is a no-holds-barred memoir by the original bad boy of tennis, Jimmy Connors.
Connors ignited the tennis boom in the 1970s with his aggressive style of play, turning his matches with John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, and Ivan Lendl into prizefights. But it was his prolonged dedication to his craft that won him the public’s adoration. He capped off one of the most remarkable runs in tennis history at the age of 39 when he reached the semifinals of the 1991 U.S. Open, competing against players half his age.
More than just the story of a tennis champion, The Outsider is the uncensored account of Connors' life, from his complicated relationship with his formidable mother and his storybook romance with tennis legend Chris Evert, to his battles with gambling and fidelity that threatened to derail his career and his long-lasting marriage to Playboy playmate Patti McGuire.
When he retired from tennis twenty years ago, Connors all but disappeared from public view. In The Outsider, he is back at the top of his game, and as feisty, outspoken, and defiant as ever.
(Harper, May 2013)