From heaven to hell: Jimmy Connors, tennis legend of the 70s and 80s

To call Jimmy Connors a tennis legend is an understatement. The five-time US Open winner dominated tennis in his time, but had a turbulent life off the court. What happened to Jimmy Connors?

Jimmy Connors was one of the leading male tennis players of the 1970s and 1980s, winning two Wimbledon titles in his typical determined style. Let's take a look at Connors' career and his life after tennis in pictures.

As a youngster, Connors was already one of the best of his generation. He proved this at the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl, which he won in both the 12 and the 14-year age groups.

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In 1972, he took the plunge and turned pro, per ATP Tour, winning his very first tournament.

Connors took his first major title at the U.S. Pro Singles in 1973 by beating Artur Ashe in five sets.

After that, it would not take long before he made his mark on the Grand Slams. In 1974, he claimed the title at the Australian Open, per ITF, by beating Phil Dent after four sets.

It was Connors' first of eight Grand Slams. He further claimed two Wimbledon titles and five US Open titles, according to ITF stats.

Remarkably, Connors never won the French Open in his best years because he was banned from the tournament due to his links with World Team Tennis (WTT). On other occasions, it was the American himself who decided not to participate in Paris. However, this didn't stop him from still playing four French Open semi-finals in the course of his career.

In that career, Connors won as many as 109 singles titles, per ESPN, and 16 doubles titles, putting him among the greats in tennis history.

Moreover, he spent 268 weeks at the top of the world rankings, with 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977.

Connors' era was highly competitive, with Björn Borg and John McEnroe as his biggest rivals, who did everything they could to stop him.

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Connors had a reputation for being a maverick during his career, which he demonstrated by playing with a steel Wilson racket for a long time, while most players were playing with wooden rackets.

He finally retired in 1996 at the age of 43 after a highly successful career spanning more than 20 years.

In 1998, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, an honour reserved for only the very greatest.

After his career, Connors took up other activities, such as commentating for NBC-TV, the BBC and Tennis Channel.

He also tried his hand at coaching, assisting Andy Roddick for 19 months and Maria Sharapova for just one match.

Like many other greats, Connors also published an autobiography titled 'The Outsider', in which he made some remarkable statements.

In the 1970s, Connors was in a relationship with fellow tennis star Chris Evert, who, according to statements in his autobiography, was pregnant and had an abortion without Connors' wishes.

Their relationship stranded, after which Connors got engaged to former Miss World Marjorie Wallace. A few years later, he married Playboy model Patti McGuire (pictured), with whom he has two children, Sportskeeda writes.

Connors also undertook some business ventures, but not always successfully. He and his brother John invested in a riverboat casino company, an adventure that ended badly, with both losing a lot of money and John going bankrupt, The Sun reports.

In 2008, Connors made headlines again, when he was arrested outside a NCAA basketball game in California "after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation, police said in a statement," as reported by CNN at the time. Charges were dropped in 2009.

Connors' road after tennis has not always been easy, but with the determination that marked his career, he always managed to get back on his feet. Like a true legend.

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