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ROGERS CUP MENAugust 8, 2011Jimmy ConnorsMONTREAL, QUEBEC THE MODERATOR: We're here with the legendary Jimmy Connors. We'll take questions. Q. A lot of buzz this week about Roger Federer turning 30, how much longer he can keep that high level of play up. You were successful during your 30s. What advice might you give him as he starts his new decade? JIMMY CONNORS: I've learned a long time ago not to give any advice 'cause that's a bad thing. I think the best thing when you get older, that means you just have to work harder, put in the time. But your life changes along the way, certainly. He has a couple children now, so many other things on his mind. He has to remember the one thing that has gotten him to this point is his tennis, what he's put into it. The older you get, the things get tougher. It gets harder to make time to practice. It gets harder going out and working on things that need to be improved. Everybody thinks if you get to 30 that that is an accomplishment. It is. He's played an awful lot of matches. But if he's going to continue at this level, he's got to spend the time and working on the right things. Certainly he has his coach that's traveling with him who should understand what they are. I'm not saying that he doesn't. I'm just saying it gets tougher as you get older, and everybody thinks because you get older that you have to rein it in and save yourself. It was the other way around for me: I needed to work harder. As far as turning 30, I would consider that still young in Roger's age only because over such a period of time he was winning matches in a way that really didn't tax him so much because he was playing at such a high level. So I would think that he's still in some pretty good shape, so I don't think that 30 would bother him. Q. How about competition today. You were speaking about that at Wimbledon. Are the players too friendly now? Do you have to put a really good tennis show across the world? Is there a need for an opponent to hate the other guy or... JIMMY CONNORS: I mean, obviously I got criticized for that or you wouldn't be talking about it, right? I come from a different time, a time where winning was what it was all about. The guys that we played against, to me that was it for me. But that was my time. Things have certainly evolved over the years. Friendships are formed. You travel with your friends. You have a number of people with you, but you get closer to the guys now that you play against. That's just the day. So that is kind of rivalry that I had with McEnroe, that I had with Lendl, that I had with Nastase and Borg. Even though we were acquaintances, still there was a meat of a rivalry in there that was to the core. I mean, it was serious stuff. Do you need that now? I don't know. I mean, I look from the outside now into what's going on. It would have always been hard for me to realize, after McEnroe beat me in a final, that he would come over and put his arm around me and console me. That would have never happened, never happened, or vice versa. I wouldn't have ever expected that. But as I understand that I've been criticized, times have changed, and they have. What they give on the court and how they do, the effort they give, what they go after, maybe they have found other ways to reach that, to get to that rivalry. Back then, was it necessary? For me it was necessary, yes, it was. That's what helped me reach my true potential every time I walked out there. But maybe today it's not. Is there a need for it? Obviously not. The stands are certainly full and the tennis is certainly a high level and the sponsors certainly have continued to support and be a part of a game that there's none better, in my opinion. So obviously not. Q. What is your involvement right now, both personally and professionally, with the sport? Would we ever see you maybe come back to coaching a player? JIMMY CONNORS: I've got back into tennis a little bit more now, more getting out and playing some matches. I haven't played in public in 12 years. So I think I've had a good rest, so to come back and to maybe play a few matches and do some things... I'm getting involved in tennis more for kids, doing our Kids For Tennis programs, not much in the United States or North America, mostly out of the country. So working hard. Been working on that for three or four years, trying to push that forward. Times are changing now for that so there's more interest in that now. The financial times are better, so working in that direction. But as far as coaching, you know, that was a tough gig. Even though Andy and I became very good friends and still are good friends, to take somebody at that level, after winning a US Open, as financially secure as all the players are now, there would have to be a deep down driving interest on their part - that's the way I see it anyway - to want to listen to the point of changing a few things or working on a few things. I know how I was at that time. Sometimes for me, you had to beat it in my head to get through. Sometimes that gets pretty thick and it's hard to get through. But I enjoyed being with Andy and seeing the progress that we made over a short period of time. Do I think that he reached his potential with that? No, I don't. I think he had a lot of room to get better. But it didn't quite work out. Q. Coming back to what you were just saying, has money changed things? JIMMY CONNORS: Yeah, but I'm not against that. That's what I played my whole career to bring into the game, to bring more interest into tennis, get more money into it. Sure, there's good and bad that always comes with that. You know, to find a player who goes out and gives the kind of effort, say, for instance that Nadal does every time, plays like he's broke, that's pretty special. To feel like that's the way he is, that's what his game is, and he forgets about everything else, that's a special attitude. I like that. That was my attitude. That's why I enjoy watching him. He'll give you everything. Doesn't matter what the score is, what round it is in the tournament, he'll give you everything he has all the time. Money is good and bad. It's up to the player to figure out where he's satisfied. You have to look at what comes into your mind over the course of a match. When it's 4-All in the fifth, do you say, This is the most fun I've ever had, let's keep going, or do you say, My bank account is that big, so whatever. But there's no criticism here. It's a conversation we're having. Please don't say I'm criticizing money because I worked my whole career to bring that money in here and make it possible for this generation to play for the kind of money they're doing now. It's totally up to the athlete himself. But don't just say about tennis. That's in every sport now, all sports. Q. What are your fondest memories of Montréal both on and off the court? JIMMY CONNORS: Well, I have a lot of friends here. Certainly enjoy coming back and seeing my friends, being able to get around a city that I spent quite a bit of time in. When you have friends that live here and know the area, you go to a lot of places that just aren't on the surface. That makes it even more interesting and more fun. On the court, I played some very good tennis here - very good tennis. But as I was reminded last night, I got to the semis quite a few times but never won it. That certainly wasn't by lack of effort. I happened to run into some good guys. I'm sure the guys that beat me, obviously they got to the finals and maybe ended up winning the tournament. I could only do what I could do. Too late to change that now. Q. You were always stopped by McEnroe or Lendl here. JIMMY CONNORS: There you go. That's not so bad. Lendl won the tournament how many times? Q. Three in a row. JIMMY CONNORS: Then McEnroe probably won it the other three. So that's okay. Q. How about the U.S. players? Now it's very international. There's no American player in the top 10. Same thing for the women. How do you analyze it? JIMMY CONNORS: Well, you know, I look back over the past 35 or 40 years and see where the Americans were for two generations, two and a half generations, see where it is now. It's kind of a little distressing. Back in my era, they had eight of the top 10 players were Americans, then it rolls into Sampras, Courier, Chang, Agassi, into that generation. What they did was incredible also. It went for two and a half generations of having nothing but the best players in the world. You can't blame it on Andy, Mardy Fish, guys like that. You have to blame it on where are the kids coming up that are allowed to take the place of players. Sampras, Agassi and Courier took the place of Connors and McEnroe and that group. Now Roddick and Fish and that group took the place of. So who is taking the place of this group? Obviously we're starving for players, but where do you find the players? It's the ability to go out and find them and have guys that have the ability to draw kids that want to be a part of tennis. A lot of kids come to tennis after football, baseball, basketball, soccer. They find out, Hey, I'd like to try tennis, be a part of tennis. But if you come at 16 or 17, it's too late. So you need to get the kids when they're young and have them interested in it from the very beginning so that as they go along, even though they're playing other sports, they also have a chance to play tennis. I don't know. I mean, you can throw out the blame to everybody. All I know is that all the other countries who came over and learned from the United States came back and improved it and went on to another level. Russia, for instance. South America, for instance. Spain. So many have come out with so many great players. What happened to the United States? What happened? Did we think that was good enough and we were happy to stay right there? Everybody else improved on it. So obviously, you know, what needs to be done in the States needs to be taken up a level or two. How to do that, I'm not involved in all that. They've made it clear they don't need me or want me involved in that. So that's fine. But they need somebody that has the drawing power and the credentials to be able to go out and to start reeling in those kids to want to be a part of tennis because right now we're lagging. Q. I don't know the story. Why do you say they made it clear? JIMMY CONNORS: That's a long story. You don't have time for it and neither do I (laughter). I've offered to be a part of it, to do things. Never worked out. If it didn't work out, that's fine. I mean, I've got other things to do. Obviously, they've gone on their own program, meaning the U.S. association. That's fine. There's other things for me to do in tennis that will satisfy me just as much. Q. Last week Roger Federer was asked about can he get back to No. 1. Do you think he's capable of that? Are there any particular players in the current crop right now who you have a particular fondness or affection for their game or style? JIMMY CONNORS: Well, I think Federer at 30 years old still is young. I don't consider that old at all. Certainly if he's willing to put in the time and do what it takes, I don't see why not. But now it's not just one guy he has to beat. He has Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, a host of guys that are coming up and are looking for his scalp. That's the great thing about being No. 1 is that everybody's after you. So that either pushes you, which it has him. You know what his credentials are. Now things have gotten a little bit tough for him. Time for him to turn it around. It's a good gut check for him, I think. I think once he sees that, and I think he does, because I don't think he'd come here and play if he didn't think he could win, because he's too great a champion for that, but there's a gut check you have to look within yourself: I was No. 1, I'm tired of being No. 2 or No. 3, whatever he is, and it's time for me to get back to where I belong and what is that going to take. Then you sit down and you figure that out, and that's your gut check. Are you willing to do that? If you're willing to do that, then the work and everything that he puts in certainly will pay off. But everybody thinks because he's not No. 1 and he's not winning 10 tournaments a year, which he did for so many years, very easy to build a guy up and get him to the top. I was on your side, too, doing the television and everything. Very easy to tear him down, which in a lot of cases is unfair. The other guys are out there trying. Djokovic, Nadal are trying to do the same thing he is, and that's win. They got tired of losing to him and figured it out. It's a good gut check for him to figure it out. I like that. That's a new game within a game now for him which I think is the way he should look at it. It's not just tennis now, it's another game to play. To get in it, he's got a coach that's with him that should know all about it, he was out on the circuit, Paul Annacone. Paul was around for a long time with some great players. He should have a good idea about what's going on and how to get him to do it. But I like keeping an eye on stories like that. That's a game within a game, like I said. Q. As far as having a particular fondness for any players? JIMMY CONNORS: I like Nadal just because of the style, his go-for-broke, give it everything he has. I don't think there's anything that can take the place of that. The story of Djokovic certainly over the last year has been tremendous. A year or two ago he could barely survive playing two sets and be exhausted. Now, I mean, he's outlasting Nadal on clay. So what he has done to get in shape, he should bottle that and sell it, whatever he did. Forget tennis, he'd make a fortune off of that. But that's an incredible story for me, to see exactly what happened to him. I wish I knew exactly what happened to him. But to see how he's handled that, how he's taken it, how he's incorporated that into his game, and how his game has thrived because of his conditioning. One has played off the other so well. Also he does a few things that the other guys just don't, which is kind of nice to see. He figured it out. I wonder who figured it out, if it was him, his coach, whoever. But he does a few things that kind of fits into the style of a lot of the guys today that just counteracts that perfectly, and he does it so well. Q. Tell me about this induction tonight. What does this represent to you? JIMMY CONNORS: Well, certainly anytime you're inducted into a Hall of Fame, it's just a tremendous feeling. To put everything out on the court like I did and to play the way I did, to have been around tennis for as long as I was and to be recognized for that. Really, it's in Canada. It's not in the United States. I was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the United States in 1998. But to come up here and be a part of this, be recognized outside of my own country, is pretty special, even though, as it was pointed out to me the other night, I didn't win the tournament. It kind of makes me feel, Okay, it was good for the tennis, but everything else I was able to bring to the court once I was out there playing is also a big part of that. So pretty special. Q. It soothes the fact you never reached the final? JIMMY CONNORS: Well, what can you do? It wasn't through lack of effort. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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