CONNORS, JIMMY

born Sept. 2, 1952, East St. Louis, Ill., U.S. byname of James Scott Connors American tennis player who established himself as a leading competitor in the 1970s. Connors learned to play tennis from his mother at an early age, and when he was eight years old he competed in the U.S. boys' championship. A former student at the University of California at Los Angeles, he joined team tennis in 1972. In 1974 he won three of the Big Four tournaments (U.S., Australian, and Wimbledon) but was barred from the fourth, the French Open. He sued the Association of Tennis Professionals, alleging that they illegally excluded him from the French event, but dropped his lawsuit after his loss to Arthur Ashe for the 1975 Wimbledon championship. He won the U.S. singles titles in 1976 and 1978 against Bjrn Borg and in 1982 and 1983 against Ivan Lendl. Connors also won the indoor championship five times (197375, 1978, and 1979), the Wimbledon and U.S. doubles (with Ilie Nastase in 1975), and the 1982 Wimbledon singles.