The Outsider: A Memoir by Jimmy Connors

Author:Jimmy Connors [Connors, Jimmy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9780061242991
Amazon: 0061242993
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2013-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

13

BJÖRN AGAIN

I’ll chase that sonuvabitch Borg to the ends of the earth.

Borg has just beaten me 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in the 1978 Wimbledon final and I’m hot. Losing three finals in four years on those grass courts does that to you, and when asked how I feel about losing, I respond that I’m not about to roll over and accept the result without a fight. It’s intended as a compliment to Borg, but of course the press sees it as being disrespectful to the reigning champion.

Borg had announced he would consider playing the Australian Open at the end of the year if he still had a chance at the Grand Slam. He’d already won the French and now Wimbledon, and he was the only one who could win it. I couldn’t let that happen. I wanted to hunt him down and even the score as soon as I could. If that meant flying halfway around the world to Australia, then that’s what I was going to do. Fortunately, I didn’t have to travel that far, because first he had to win the US Open.

I am in the backgammon room at Pips International, in Beverly Hills—one of my favorite places, a restaurant, bar, and disco run by my buddy Joe DeCarlo. I called Joe earlier in the evening to ask if Lornie and I could come over and hang with him, since I just got back from Wimbledon. I walk in and see Joe sitting at the table with Patti McGuire.

I came here for two reasons: to relax and blow off some steam, but that all changes the moment I see Patti.

I hadn’t been looking for love that night at Hef’s mansion, but I found her and then I lost her, and this time I wasn’t going to let her get away.

I’d had a busy year, and at the same time I was trying to find a way to hook up with Patti again. I found out we had a mutual friend in James Caan’s sister Barbara, and whenever I’d see her, I’d ask about Patti. I also tried through Barbara’s other brother, Ronnie. I’d bump into him at parties in LA and ask the same questions. But none of it got me anywhere. And now, here she is, sitting next to me, playing backgammon with Joe. After a little while Joe has to go off and attend to some of his other customers, leaving Patti and me on our own. She asks if I want to play backgammon with her. We play two games and she kicks my ass.

“Jeez,” I say, “this just isn’t my week.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just lost in the finals of a really big tournament.”

Patti doesn’t really know anything about tennis and she doesn’t follow it. She smiles.

“Well, if I would have known that, I would have tanked and let you win to make you feel better.”

We decide to go into the disco, and we’re having a great time dancing and I’m thinking, “Man, this is too good to be true.

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