Jimmy Connors recalls bad court conditions during playing days after Marrakech issue
Jimmy Connors reflected on the problem of unideal court conditions during his playing days in light of a recent issue during the ongoing ATP event in Marrakech. After multiple players, including Dan Evans, refused to take to the courts in Marrakech due to poor playing conditions, play was canceled for the day earlier this week.
Reflecting on the issue back in the day, Connors said that there were many 'questionable' courts, but none that would lead to players not stepping out to compete. The American tennis legend was active on the tour from early 1970s and retired in 1996.
Connors shared his views on the issue of court conditions on a recent episode of the Advantage Connors podcast.
"Back then, there were a lot of courts that were questionable, but none that you would ever not consider playing," Jimmy Connors said in response to a question from his son Brett.
The eight-time Grand Slam singles champion reminisced about an incident where he was playing an exhibition event in Argentina and had to himself help repair the court after just one game in the match.
"One time, we were in Argentina and we had to patch the court up. It was an exhibition but we were out there laying the court down because in the first game of the match the whole court came up. We were trying to fix that," Connors said on the same.
Connors won an Open Era record 109 singles titles on the ATP tour.
Jimmy Connors hails Carlos Alcaraz for his maturity and desire to win
Jimmy Connors is impressed by Carlos Alcaraz's desire to win and maturity at the age of 19. According to the American, Alcaraz stands out from the rest of the pack due to his maturity on the court. Alcaraz has already achieved a career-high ranking of No. 1 on the ATP tour and has won eight of his 11 tour-level finals.
"The one thing that really stood out for me, he's young — 19-20 years old. He has the desire," Jimmy Connors said. "You can tell. The way he goes about his business, he already seems to be playing at a very mature level for a 19 or 20-year-old kid."
Alcaraz is currently on another injury-forced break from the tour, having withdrawn from the ongoing Monte-Carlo Masters. The Spaniard, who won the Indian Wells title a few weeks ago, is expected to be fit in time for his Barcelona Open title defense. He will also defend the Madrid Masters title.