Rob McLean - Connors v Federer would have been a classic
If he is still the Jimmy Connors we know and love - and sometimes wince at - then on a golf course near his home in southern California, he will be seething and abusing anyone in earshot after hearing the news of another Roger Federer milestone.
It's a significant moment in tennis history when someone gets the better of Connors, by some distance the most competitive player of all time.
The only other one who comes close with the never-say-die attitude is Australian Lleyton Hewitt.
The 57-year-old American may have mellowed, but losing at anything has always been taken as a personal affront and the world No 1 passing him in the record books would have rankled.
As the dust settles on the Australian Open, Federer has just overhauled Connors' total of 268 weeks as world No 1, leaving only Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras for Federer to get to.
The good news for Jimbo is he still holds a record that will surely never be beaten. Connors' still has the bragging rights over everyone for the total titles won, which stands at 106 - the first back in 1972, the last in in 1989.
With Federer on 62, it looks pretty safe. Connors never knew when he was beaten. Even at two sets and a break down, he was the only player you would put your mortgage on to get himself out of a hole. And he invariably did.
A world weary, excuses-on-tap, money-sated Novak Djokovic, he is not. Choking, tanking, giving up through tiredness were never an option for the eight-times Grand Slam champion.
On the main tour, the Seniors, world team tennis, Connors would have to be carried off on a stretcher with a broken leg before he threw in the towel.
His detractors will point to his reluctance to play in the US Davis Cup team and boorish behaviour on a scale that was only ever matched by John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase.
The number of incidents are almost the same as his titles. One of the milder moments involved a women at my tennis club who once worked as a linesperson at Queen's Club.
She recalls Connors accusing her of "looking up his shorts" when she was clearly staring at the lines.
Connors and Federer may be quite different animals but what they have in common is an absolute passion for the game no amount of money can dull. Connors went on and on...and on.
He reached the semi-finals of the US Open in 1991 aged 39 and was still competing in the seniors in his 50s.
Federer appears set to play until his mid-30s, which should bring a collective groan from all the leading players, not least one Scotsman.
What is left for the Swiss? The Grand Slam – all four in a calendar year - the Olympic gold in 2012, the Davis Cup, a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title and beating his clay court nemesis Rafael Nadal in the final of the French.
Any round would do to get that 2008 final humiliation at Roland Garros out of his system.
If he needs a new challenge, he could turn to wooden rackets and play real tennis, the game's original form, and try to beat the Brit, Ruaraidh Gunn, who has just gone one better than Andy Murray and won the Australian Open.
Federer versus Connors, when both players were at their peak, would have been a sight to behold. Connors aggressive style, all guns blazing might have run him close. He would have died trying.
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Date published :
09 Feb 2010 - 08:34:07
