"He chose to bide his time a bit more" - When Jimmy Connors said his rivalry with Ivan Lendl wasn't the same as it was with Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe
Jimmy Connors once said that his rivalry with Ivan Lendl was not as intense as the ones he had with Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
The two locked horns in the second round of the 1992 US Open, with Lendl winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. Lendl would go on to reach the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Stefan Edberg.
When asked about the high unforced error count in his post-match press conference, Connors responded by saying that he was the aggressor in the contest, while Lendl just "bunted the ball back."
"Nobody is perfect. I was the one forcing the action. He just stayed out there and bunted the ball back. I was the one that was being aggressive and forcing the action. So I guess when you do that, then you are going to make a few more errors. I don't think I played too badly," Jimmy Connors said.
The then-39-year-old also stated that Lendl had the opportunity to rival the likes of Borg, McEnroe, and himself but chose to "bide his time" instead. He added that he didn't feel as much of a rivalry with Lendl as he did with Borg and McEnroe.
"I guess you got to treat him as just another match. I mean, ten or twelve years ago he had-- actually, more that that. Twelve or fourteen years ago he had the opportunity to jump in the Borg, McEnroe, Connors triangle, and he didn't do it. He could have made it pretty interesting, you know, with the four of us. He didn't do that. He chose to bide his time a little bit more. I don't feel the rivalry with him as I do with Borg and McEnroe, or I did not feel that," Connors added.
Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl locked horns on 35 occasions
Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl squared off on 35 occasions, with the latter leading the head-to-head 22-13. Connors won the first eight meetings between the pair, but Lendl turned the tide as the 1980s progressed, triumphing in each of their last 17 encounters.
The duo faced off in seven Grand Slam matches, with the Czech-American winning four of those. Connors, however, beat Lendl in the two US Open finals they played in 1982 and 1983.