Few upsets in tennis history were as stunning. Even fewer were as popular.
To say that Jimmy Connors was the overwhelming favorite coming into Wimbledon in 1975 was an understatement. The 22-year-old was the defending champion and ranked No. 1, and he was playing with a viciousness unseen before in this previously polite sport. In 1974, he had gone 99-4, and there was talk, even among his rivals, of how he would “go on winning everything for years.”
Most people watching Connors’ semifinal against Roscoe Tanner wouldn’t have dared to disagree. “Jimmy,” British journalist Richard Evans wrote, “was primed for one of the most awesome and terrifying displays of attacking tennis ever seen on Centre Court.”
Yet, as Evans noted, little did “Jimbo” know that “in fact, this extravagant show of power-packed tennis was only contributing to his downfall.”
That’s because there was one person watching who had to believe that Connors could be beaten. Arthur Ashe, who had just won his own semifinal, sat toweling off in the locker room as Jimmy pranced across the TV screen above him. Ashe saw Tanner hit the ball hard at Connors, only to have it come back harder; now he knew what not to do in the final. But like Tanner, Ashe had always played with caution-to-the-wind aggression.
Could he change, for one day?
