Jimmy Connors Takes on the Australians

'Get me Laver!'

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Fresh from his 1974 US Open victory against Australia’s Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors came off the court at Forest Hills and told his manager, “Get me Laver!”

Connors had just crushed his opponent 6-1, 6-0, 6-1, earning his first US Open title and his second consecutive Grand Slam (Wimbledon), both against an aging Rosewall who was nearing the end of his illustrious career.

Earlier in the year, the American swung to victory at the Australian Open against another native from Down Under, Phil Dent.

The 22-year-old brash Californian who was now ranked No. 1 in the world seemed intent on knocking down the Aussies like bowling pins.

Laver was, and remains to this day, the only racquet man to complete a Calendar Grand Slam (1962, 1969).

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He dominated the men’s game in the latter half of the 1960s and reportedly got under Connors’ skin when he said, “[Jimmy] probably thinks he’s the next best thing to 7-up.”

Connors’ manager, Bill Riordon, heeded his client and arranged a record winner-take-all match in Las Vegas between the two left-handed hitters.

Connors and Laver had never faced each other, and their boxing-like encounter, billed as ‘The Heavyweight Championship of Tennis’, was scheduled for February 2nd, 1975.

Along the way, though, Connors hooked up with another Australian, John Newcombe, at the 1975 Australian Open final.

But this time, his 3rd Aussie challenger proved to be a pillar rather than a pin.

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Described as “titillating and unbearably exciting,” their court battle gave Australian tennis its biggest shot in the arm since the nation’s 1953 Davis Cup victory over the United States.

To be fair, many major Australian events in the early years of Open Tennis attracted little interest on an international scale.

It was more a story of tournaments of diminished prestige, poor prize money, and woeful attendance.

No. 2 ranked in the world, Newcombe was 30 years old, a three-time Wimbledon champ, and the 1973 US Open winner.

However, Connors played a new style of aggressive tennis, hitting different shots with his shiny Wilson T-2000 and unleashing a double-handed backhand from his armory.

BUY- 'Muscles'

Newcombe may not have even planned to play at the event, but then John Brown, the tournament director, notified him that Jimmy Connors was coming, and he claimed, “I couldn’t resist the temptation”.

One of Newcombe’s problems was that he and the press had made ill-advised comments in Sydney newspapers over many months, dismissing Connors’ status and authority as the game’s leading player.

Newcombe’s remarks suggested that Connors had been avoiding him all year, that the American would not show up to defend his title because he didn’t want to risk his Las Vegas date with Laver, and that he, Newcombe, had beaten Connors on the two occasions they had played.

Newcombe also called Connors “one of the best exponents of the art of gamesmanship” in tennis.

When Connors arrived in Australia for the 1975 Open, he was described as “uncowed”. He told newsmen, “I’m not brash. I like arrogant far better.”

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He pointed out he wasn’t avoiding anyone, and that he couldn’t help it if Newcombe was unable to make the final of a tournament to meet him.

The upstart from across the seas also told the assembled reporters that Newcombe should start talking with his racquet rather than his mouth.

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In his 1985 book, ‘Game, Set and Glory – A History of the Australian Tennis Championships’, Bruce Matthews wrote that Newcombe christened a steep rise near his Sydney home 'Jimmy Connors Hill’, as he pounded his body back into shape with torturous road work.

The match was played on a hot and sunny New Year’s Day and Newcombe took the 1st set to the cheers of the noisy, overflow crowd of 12,500 at Kooyong Stadium.

BUY- 'Australia's Grand Slam Tennis Champions'

Connors then broke early and evened the match at a set apiece. The 3rd set saw him purposely double fault a serve in order to pacify a howling home crowd that protested two service calls made in his favor.

But the self-inflicted gesture led to his undoing as Newcombe then broke him at 3-2, again at 5-4, and then closed out the set at 6-4.

In the 4th, the American held vital points to square the match at 6-5 and led 7-6 in the tiebreaker before Newcombe produced a surprising backhand passing shot, and two of his seventeen aces of the day, to finally clinch it (9-7).

Newcombe won 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.

The rousing match met everyone’s expectations and Newcombe spoke of the tournament as the toughest he had ever won.

BUY- 'Pat Cash'

Weeks later, Connors was facing Laver, his fourth Australian nemesis in 13 months, for what was then the largest prize ever offered for a tennis header - $100,000.

Held at Caesars Palace in ‘Sin City’, the event was played indoors in front of 4,000 spectators and beamed around the world by CBS.

Broadcast by the LA Dodgers’ Vin Scully, the celebrity-rich affair was attended by the likes of Johnny Carson, Alan King, Clint Eastwood, and Charleton Heston.

On this occasion, Connors defeated his credentialed rival 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 in a dramatic thriller that culminated with a 16-point tie breaker in the 4th set.

This type of ‘heavy-weight challenge’ was well suited to Connors’ abrasive personality. Resembling a fisticuffs bout, the two camps disputed and negotiated on everything ahead of the match - which referee, what balls, and even when to open the cans.

BUY- 'Margaret Court'

Though he ultimately beat Laver, bratty Jimbo never won over the crowd who booed him for skipping the Davis Cup in favor of filling his calendar with cash prize events.

Ironically, that weekend saw the U.S. tennis team exit early after losing to Mexico at the 63rd edition of the Davis Cup, held in Palm Springs, California.

As Riordan also discovered, the Vegas volley proved to be a promoter’s dream. With just 2 players and a bucketload of cash, it was easier to organize than a tournament.

Riordan, who grew up around boxing, set up Connors with another battle at Caesars Palace, this time for a $500,000 winner-take-all stake, and against Newcombe.

BUY- 'Home'

Fought on April 26, 1975, the American avenged his earlier loss to Newcombe 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. But this time, the excitement was muted and the contest was described as “a surprisingly undramatic event”.

Though he broke the Aussie fortress, Connors never competed again at the Australian Open after his New Year's Day loss to Newcombe.

Richard Naughton is a Melbourne-based tennis historian.

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