By Mike McIntyre
American tennis legend Jimmy Connors was inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame in Montreal on Monday night. Connors won eight Grand Slams during his illustrious career and took some time in the afternoon to talk with the press. Connors spoke at length about his involvement in the sport today, the differences in rivalries on the tour today compared with his generation and also shared some secrets about succeeding in professional tennis beyond the age of thirty.
While Connors has done some broadcast work in the past he has taken a step back from that and appears to be enjoying a state of semi-retirement. He did hint at getting ready to play in some Legends events after being away from playing in public for the last twelve years. I asked him if a return to coaching might be a possibility to which he said, "...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."
Connors went a little further in discussing his previous relationship with Roddick. Their partnership lasted just under two years from July 2006 to March 2008. As Connors talked you could tell there was a hint of regret about Roddick's short-comings although he seemed to generally care for how his former charge was doing.
"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."
Here is the video of his actual induction ceremony on the court. Apologies for the man who wandered in front of my lens towards the start.
