Jimmy Connors’ New Autobiography Certain To Be A Stunner

Written by: Staff on 3rd May 2013

Jimmy Connors’ New Autobiography Certain To Be A Stunner

epa01108278 Tennis legend Jimmy Connors watches Andy Roddick of the US play Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during their fourth round match on the eighth day of the 2007 US Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2007. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

The Outsider, the soon to be released auto-biography of Jimmy Connors, has been billed as “the complete, uncensored story of his life and career.”

If brief excerpts from the book this week printed in the New York Daily News, are anything to go by it could send shockwaves across the tennis world with the revelation his one-time fiancée Chris Evert became pregnant at the age of 19 and decided to have an abortion.

In the summer of 1974 the two young Americans were Wimbledon champions and as tradition requested in those days, danced together. On this occasion the band played ‘The Girl That I Marry.’ Just a few months later the planned wedding was off and Evert has since claimed the pair realized they were both too young and their dedication to tennis and becoming world no.1’s took precedence over romance.

Now, nearly 40 years on, Connors is maintaining there was another reason for their break-up. An excerpt from The Outsider reads: “An issue had arisen as a result of youthful passion and a decision had to be made as a couple.

Connors writes he wanted to “let nature take its course” and accept responsibility “for what was to come”. Evert is said to have called him at the flat in Los Angeles that he shared with Ilie Nastase.

“Chrissie … made up her mind that the timing was bad and too much was riding on her future,” he writes. “Well, thanks for letting me know,” he claims to have responded. “Since I don’t have any say in the matter, then I guess I’m just here to help.”

After this, he claims to have suggested that they “take a step back”, to which she is said to have replied: “OK, if that’s what you think. I’ve got a match tomorrow. Not a problem.” So the relationship that had so captivated tennis fans ended. “It kept going back to the same old question: Can two No 1s exist in the same family?” he said.

Evert was alerted to upcoming revelations in The Outsider and she appointed a spokesman to say: “We don’t have a comment on a relationship that was more than 40 years ago. ”

However in an interview with The Times of London last year, Evert described being propelled into the spotlight while still a teenager. “I could go more deeply into this, but when you are successful at a young age you miss out on a lot,” she said.

“This period of my life is all about learning from my mistakes and trying to find out who I am, and just trying to be personally the best I can be. That’s all.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: American tennis news, Jimmy Connors, tennis autobiography, Tennis Books, Tennis News