‘Lay off the Crotch’- ‘Badboy’ Jimmy Connors Almost Landed in Jail Once for Irking Ecuadorian President

American tennis great Jimmy Connors was among the top players of his time. The 70-year-old is one of the best tennis players America has produced. The eight-time Grand Slam had an illustrious career before he hung his racket in 1996. Years later, the American decided to narrate his story to the world through his book. The book was full of interesting stories from his playing days and had some controversial stuff, too.

In one such story, he wrote about the time he almost ended up in jail. Although the story sounds scary, it actually was pretty funny.

When Jimmy Connors almost ended up in jail

In an interesting story from Connors’ book, ‘The Outsider’, he narrated a tale from his visit to Ecuador. The eight-time Grand Slam champion was all set to play in an exhibition match against the local favorite Andrés Gómez. The president of Ecuador was also present at the event.

However, Connors felt that there was a lot of cheating and an unfair advantage to help Gomez win. Here’s what happened next. “The line judges are helping him out any chance they get. And the temperature’s over 100 degrees and humid. I’m hot and tired and playing on red clay. I swear at the officials, throw my racquet around at all the bad calls, and grab my crotch whenever I win a point, just to piss people off,” Connors wrote.

Further, the legend narrated how it could have landed him in trouble. “I hear Goldberg shouting at me, “Cool it, Connors!” When I sit down, he fills me in. “Lay off the crotch,” he says, “or you’re going to jail. The head of security has just had a word with me. You’re offending the president of Ecuador,” he added.

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It worked as a danger bell for Connors, who kept his calm and avoided what could have been a really embarrassing situation for him.

Connors recalled his no-nonsense father in the book

Connors had a great rivalry with John McEnroe. The two always played intense tennis and their matches lasted for a long time. On one similar occasion, Connors lost to McEnroe in the semifinal of the 1980 US Open. It was a five-set match and McEnroe earned his hard-fought victory.

While everybody was happy with the way Connors played in his loss, his father was not. The senior Connors sent him a text immediately after the match to let him know of his displeasure. Later, the eight-time Grand Slam champion went to see his parent at their home. As the former world number 1 recalls, the first thing his father asked him was about McEnroe.

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Connors’ father asked him if he has found a way to defeat McEnroe. It’s interesting to see how even after becoming a tennis star, it is hard to satisfy parents. Even when you are Jimmy Connors.