"Do they realize what this guy is like in the locker room?" - Looking back to the 1988 US Open, when Andre Agassi wanted to beat 'a**hole' Jimmy Connors
Andre Agassi was determined to defeat Jimmy Connors at the 1988 US Open because of the latter's behavior towards him in the locker room.
Agassi was a teenager at the time, and he reached his second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year in New York. The former World No. 1 wrote in his autobiography 'Open' that he spoke to Connors in the locker room before their quarterfinal clash.
Agassi said that he reminded the then-35-year-old about their previous meetings. But Connors rebuffed him, before lying back on a bench and pulling a towel over his legs.
"At the U.S. Open I reach the quarters. I’m due to face Jimmy Connors. Before the match I approach him meekly in the locker room and remind him that we once met. 'In Las Vegas? I was four? You were playing at Caesars Palace? We hit some balls together?'" Andre Agassi wrote.
"Nope, he says. Oh. Well. Actually, we met again, several times, when I was seven. I used to deliver rackets to you? My father strung your rackets whenever you came to town, and I’d bring them to you at your favorite restaurant on the Strip? Nope, he says again, then lies back on a bench and pulls a long white towel over his legs and closes his eyes. Dismissed," he added.
Andre Agassi said that the incident fit everything he had heard about Connors' demeanor from other players, who called him an "a***ole" and a "rude, condescending, egomaniac prick."
At that point, the then-teenager told his agent Perry Rogers that he would beat Connors in three easy sets and that the latter would not win more than nine games.
"This gibes with everything I’ve heard about Connors from other players. A***ole, they say, rude, condescending, egomaniac prick. But I thought he’d treat me differently, I thought he’d show me some love, given our longtime connection. Just for that, I tell Perry, 'I’m beating this guy in three easy sets—and he’s going to win no more than nine games'," he stated.
The former World No. 1 further wrote that the crowd was rooting for Connors and that he wondered if they knew about his demeanor in the locker room while they were cheering.
"The crowd is pulling for Connors. It’s the opposite of Stratton. Here, I’m cast as the bad guy. I’m the impertinent upstart who dares to oppose the elder statesman. The crowd wants Connors to defy the odds, and Father Time, and I’m standing in the way of that dream scenario. Each time they cheer I think: Do they realize what this guy is like in the locker room? Do they know what his peers say about him? Do they have any concept of how he responds to a friendly hello?" Andre Agassi said.
How Andre Agassi defeated Jimmy Connors in 1988 US Open quarterfinals
Andre Agassi eventually registered a comprehensive victory over Jimmy Connors in the quarterfinals of the 1988 US Open. The then-teenager won 6-2, 7-6, 6-1 to book his place in the semifinals of the tournament, where he lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to Ivan Lendl.
Agassi's second and final meeting with Connors came in the quarterfinals of the 1989 US Open. He won a tightly-contested match 6-1, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 before once again losing to Lendl in the semifinals.