Connors's 109 titles and Draw Sizes

A couple of comments from BogBrush, Turron, LKv2 and some others, in the past, spurred me to enquire a bit further.

Thanks Turron for this comment and suggesting this enquiry.

Turron wrote:I know a win is a win, and Jimbo was a hell of a slugger, but weren't a fair proportion of the 109 in events without a really competitive field?

I have not done a ranking analysis, but just the draw size. Rankings are a pain and very time consuming, but I can try, if posters want that level of analysis. The distribution of titles/finals by year can be viewed using the ATP link at end of this article.

Draw Size	Number of Titles	Total Matches Played
Draw Size:128	7	49
Draw Size:64	31	177
Draw Size:56	2	10
Draw Size:48	2	10
Draw Size:32	51	250
Draw Size:24	1	4
Draw Size:16	10	38
Draw Size:8	4	16
Draw Size:4	1	1

Detailed table...

Tournament	Date	Draw Size	Opponent in final	Number of Matches played
Tel Aviv, Israel	16.10.1989	Draw: 32	W Gilad Bloom (ISR) 181 W 2-6, 6-2, 6-1	5
Toulouse, France	09.10.1989	Draw: 32	W John McEnroe (USA) 4 W 6-3, 6-3	5
Toulouse, France	10.10.1988	Draw: 32	W Andrei Chesnokov (RUS) 17 W 6-2, 6-0	5
Washington, DC, U.S.A.	18.07.1988	Draw: 56	W Andres Gomez (ECU) 19 W 6-1, 6-4	5
Tokyo Indoor, Japan	15.10.1984	Draw: 32	W Ivan Lendl (USA) 2 W 6-4, 3-6, 6-0	5
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.	10.09.1984	Draw: 48	W Eliot Teltscher (USA) 17 W 6-4, 4-6, 6-4	5
Boca West, FL, U.S.A.	26.03.1984	Draw: 32	W Johan Kriek (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-4	5
La Quinta, CA, U.S.A.	13.02.1984	Draw: 56	W Yannick Noah (FRA) N/A W 6-2, 6-7, 6-3	5
Memphis, TN, U.S.A.	06.02.1984	Draw: 48	W Henri Leconte (FRA) N/A W 6-3, 4-6, 7-5	5
US Open, NY, U.S.A.	30.08.1983	Draw: 128	W Ivan Lendl (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-0	7
London / Queen's Club, England	06.06.1983	Draw: 64	W John McEnroe (USA) 1 W 6-3, 6-3	6
Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.	24.04.1983	Draw: 32	W Mark Edmondson (AUS) N/A W 7-6, 6-1	5
Memphis, TN, U.S.A.	14.02.1983	Draw: 64	W Gene Mayer (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-0	5
US Open, NY, U.S.A.	31.08.1982	Draw: 128	W Ivan Lendl (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4	7
Columbus, OH, U.S.A.	03.08.1982	Draw: 32	W Brian Gottfried (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-0	5
Wimbledon, England	21.06.1982	Draw: 128	W John McEnroe (USA) N/A W 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4	7
London / Queen's Club, England	07.06.1982	Draw: 64	W John McEnroe (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-3	6
Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.	25.04.1982	Draw: 32	W Gene Mayer (USA) N/A W 5-2 RET	5
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.	12.04.1982	Draw: 32	W Mel Purcell (USA) N/A W 6-2, 6-1	5
Monterrey, Mexico	22.02.1982	Draw: 32	W Johan Kriek (USA) N/A W 6-2, 3-6, 6-3	5
Wembley, England	09.11.1981	Draw: 32	W John McEnroe (USA) N/A W 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2	5
Rotterdam, The Netherlands	16.03.1981	Draw: 32	W Gene Mayer (USA) N/A W 6-1, 2-6, 6-2	5
Brussels, Belgium	09.03.1981	Draw: 32	W Brian Gottfried (USA) N/A W 6-2, 6-4, 6-3	5
La Quinta, CA, U.S.A.	16.02.1981	Draw: 64	W Ivan Lendl (USA) N/A W 6-3, 7-6	6
Tokyo Indoor, Japan	27.10.1980	Draw: 32	W Tom Gullikson (USA) N/A W 6-1, 6-2	5
Republic Of China, China	13.10.1980	Draw: 32	W Eliot Teltscher (USA) N/A W 6-2, 6-4	6
North Conway, NH, U.S.A.	27.07.1980	Draw: 64	W Eddie Dibbs (USA) N/A W 6-3, 5-7, 6-1	6
Dallas WCT, TX, U.S.A.	28.04.1980	Draw: 8	W John McEnroe (USA) N/A W 2-6, 7-6, 6-1, 6-2	3
Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.	21.01.1980	Draw: 64	W John McEnroe (USA) N/A W 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-	5
Birmingham, AL, U.S.A.	14.01.1980	Draw: 32	W Eliot Teltscher (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-2	5
Hong Kong, Hong Kong	05.11.1979	Draw: 32	W Pat Dupre (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-3, 6-1	5
Stowe, VT, U.S.A.	13.08.1979	Draw: 32	W Mike Cahill (USA) N/A W 6-0, 6-1	5
Indianapolis, IN, U.S.A.	06.08.1979	Draw: 64	W Guillermo Vilas (ARG) N/A W 6-1, 2-6, 6-4	6
Tulsa, OK, U.S.A.	09.04.1979	Draw: 32	W Eddie Dibbs (USA) 9 W 6-7, 7-5, 6-1	5
Memphis, TN, U.S.A.	26.02.1979	Draw: 64	W Arthur Ashe (USA) N/A W 6-4, 5-7, 6-3	5
Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.	22.01.1979	Draw: 64	W Arthur Ashe (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-4, 6-1	6
Birmingham, AL, U.S.A.	15.01.1979	Draw: 32	W Eddie Dibbs (USA) N/A W 6-2, 3-6, 7-5	5
Sydney Indoor, Australia	22.10.1978	Draw: 32	W Geoff Masters (AUS) N/A W 6-0, 6-0, 6-4	5
US Open, NY, U.S.A.	29.08.1978	Draw: 128	W Bjorn Borg (SWE) N/A W 6-4, 6-2, 6-2	7
Stowe, VT, U.S.A.	14.08.1978	Draw: 32	W Tim Gullikson (USA) N/A W 6-2, 6-3	5
Indianapolis, IN, U.S.A.	07.08.1978	Draw: 64	W Jose Higueras (ESP) N/A W 7-5, 6-1	6
Washington, DC, U.S.A.	23.07.1978	Draw: 64	W Eddie Dibbs (USA) 5 W 7-5, 7-5	6
Birmingham, Great Britain	18.06.1978	Draw: 64	W Raul Ramirez (MEX) N/A W 6-3, 6-1, 6-2	6
Rotterdam WTC, The Netherlands	03.04.1978	Draw: 32	W Raul Ramirez (MEX) N/A W 7-5, 7-5	5
Memphis, TN, U.S.A.	27.02.1978	Draw: 32	W Tim Gullikson (USA) N/A W 7-6, 6-3	5
Denver, CO, U.S.A.	20.02.1978	Draw: 32	W Stan Smith (USA) N/A W 6-2, 7-6	5
Philadelphia WCT, PA, U.S.A.	23.01.1978	Draw: 64	W Roscoe Tanner (USA) N/A W 6-2, 6-4, 6-3	6
Masters, NY, U.S.A.	04.01.1978	Draw: 8	W Bjorn Borg (SWE) N/A W 6-4, 1-6, 6-4	5
WCT Challenge Cup, NV, U.S.A.	14.11.1977	Draw: 8	W Roscoe Tanner (USA) N/A W 6-2, 5-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-5	5
Sydney Indoor, Sydney, Australia	17.10.1977	Draw: 32	W Ken Rosewall (AUS) N/A W 7-5, 6-4, 6-2	5
Maui, Maui, Hawaii	03.10.1977	Draw: 32	W Brian Gottfried (USA) N/A W 6-2, 6-0	5
Dallas WCT, TX, U.S.A.	10.05.1977	Draw: 8	W Dick Stockton (USA) N/A W 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3	3
Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.	25.04.1977	Draw: 32	W Raul Ramirez (MEX) N/A W 6-4, 5-7, 6-2	5
St. Louis WCT, MO, U.S.A.	14.03.1977	Draw: 16	W John Alexander (AUS) N/A W 7-6(5), 6-2	4
Birmingham WCT, Birmingham, AL, USA	12.01.1977	Draw: 16	W Bill Scanlon (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-3	4
Wembley, England	15.11.1976	Draw: 32	W Roscoe Tanner (USA) N/A W 3-6, 7-6, 6-4	5
Cologne, Germany	01.11.1976	Draw: 32	W Frew McMillan (RSA) N/A W 6-2, 6-3	5
US Open, NY, U.S.A.	01.09.1976	Draw: 128	W Bjorn Borg (SWE) N/A W 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4	7
Indianapolis, IN, U.S.A.	09.08.1976	Draw: 64	W Wojtek Fibak (POL) N/A W 6-2, 6-4	6
North Conway, NH, U.S.A.	08.08.1976	Draw: 64	W Raul Ramirez (MEX) N/A W 7-6, 4-6, 6-3	6
Washington, DC, U.S.A.	26.07.1976	Draw: 64	W Raul Ramirez (MEX) N/A W 6-2, 6-4	6
Nottingham, England	15.06.1976	Draw: 64	W Ilie Nastase (ROU) 7 W ABN	6 (Abandoned)
Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.	10.05.1976	Draw: 32	W Ken Rosewall (AUS) N/A W 6-1, 6-3	5
Denver WCT, CO, U.S.A.	20.04.1976	Draw: 16	W Ross Case (AUS) N/A W 7-6(1), 6-2	4
Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.	22.03.1976	Draw: 64	W Roscoe Tanner (USA) N/A W 6-4, 6-4	6
Hampton, VA, U.S.A.	10.03.1976	Draw: 16	W Ilie Nastase (ROU) N/A W 6-2, 6-2, 6-2	4
Philadelphia WCT, PA, U.S.A.	26.01.1976	Draw: 64	W Bjorn Borg (SWE) N/A W 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-0	5
Birmingham, AL, U.S.A.	20.01.1976	Draw: 32	W Roscoe Tanner (USA) N/A W 6-4, 3-6, 6-1	4
Maui, Hawaii, USA	05.10.1975	Draw: 32	W Sandy Mayer (USA) N/A W 6-1, 6-0	5
Bermuda, Bermuda	21.09.1975	Draw: 32	W Vitas Gerulaitis (USA) N/A W 6-1, 6-4	4
North Conway, NH, U.S.A.	04.08.1975	Draw: 64	W Ken Rosewall (AUS) N/A W 6-2, 6-2	5
Denver WCT, CO, USA	14.04.1975	Draw: 32	W Brian Gottfried (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-4	5
Hampton, VA, U.S.A.	11.03.1975	Draw: 32	W Jan Kodes (CZE) N/A W 3-6, 6-3, 6-0	5
Boca Raton, FL, U.S.A.	17.02.1975	Draw: 32	W Jurgen Fassbender (GER) N/A W 6-4, 6-2	5
Salisbury, MD, U.S.A.	10.02.1975	Draw: 64	W Vitas Gerulaitis (USA) N/A W 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0	5
Birmingham, AL, U.S.A.	20.01.1975	Draw: 32	W Billy Martin (USA) N/A W 6-4, 6-3	4
Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas	18.01.1975	Draw: 32	W Karl Meiler (GER) N/A W 6-0, 6-2	5
Johannesburg, South Africa	24.11.1974	Draw: 32	W Arthur Ashe (USA) N/A W 7-6, 6-3, 6-1	5
London, England	16.11.1974	Draw: 32	W Brian Gottfried (USA) N/A W 6-2, 7-6	5
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.	17.09.1974	Draw: 64	W Harold Solomon (USA) N/A W 6-3, 6-1	6
US Open, NY, U.S.A.	28.08.1974	Draw: 128	W Ken Rosewall (AUS) N/A W 6-1, 6-0, 6-1	7
Indianapolis, IN, U.S.A.	05.08.1974	Draw: 64	W Bjorn Borg (SWE) N/A W 5-7, 6-3, 6-4	6
Wimbledon, England	24.06.1974	Draw: 128	W Ken Rosewall (AUS) N/A W 6-1, 6-1, 6-4	7
Manchester, Great Britain	03.06.1974	Draw: 16	W Mike Collins (GBR) N/A W 13-11, 6-2	4
Tempe, AZ, USA	27.03.1974	Draw: 32	W Vijay Amritraj (IND) N/A W 6-1, 6-2	5
Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.	18.03.1974	Draw: 32	W Vitas Gerulaitis (USA) N/A W 4-6, 7-6, 6-3	4
Hampton, Virginia, U.S.A.	10.03.1974	Draw: 64	W Ilie Nastase (ROU) N/A W 6-4, 6-4	5
Salisbury, MD, U.S.A.	24.02.1974	Draw: 64	W Frew McMillan (RSA) N/A W 6-4, 7-5, 6-3	5
Birmingham, AL, U.S.A.	17.02.1974	Draw: 32	W Sandy Mayer (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-3	4
Little Rock, AR, U.S.A.	10.02.1974	Draw: 32	W Karl Meiler (GER) N/A W 6-2, 6-1	4
Roanoke, VA, U.S.A.	20.01.1974	Draw: 16	W Karl Meiler (GER) N/A W 6-4, 6-3	4
Australian Open, Australia	26.12.1973	Draw: 64	W Phil Dent (AUS) N/A W 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3	6
Johannesburg, South Africa	27.11.1973	Draw: 32	W Arthur Ashe (USA) 10 W 6-4, 7-6, 6-3	5
Quebec, Canada	01.10.1973	Draw: 32	W Marty Riessen (USA) N/A W 6-1, 6-4, 6-7, 6-0	5
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.	17.09.1973	Draw: 64	W Tom Okker (NED) N/A W 7-5, 7-6	6
Columbus, OH, U.S.A.	05.08.1973	Draw: 32	W Charlie Pasarell (USA) N/A W 3-6, 6-3, 6-3	5
Boston, Boston, MA, USA	16.07.1973	Draw: 32	W Arthur Ashe (USA) N/A W 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-	5
Paramus, Paramus, NJ, USA	09.03.1973	Draw: 16	W Clark Graebner (USA) N/A W 6-1, 6-2	3
Hampton, Hampton, VA, USA	03.03.1973	Draw: 32	W Ilie Nastase (ROU) N/A W 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3	5
Salisbury, Salisbury, Maryland	18.02.1973	Draw: 64	W Karl Meiler (GER) N/A W 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(2), 6-3	5
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, Utah	07.02.1973	Draw: 24	W Paul Gerken (USA) N/A W 6-1, 6-2	4
Roanoke, Roanoke, VA, USA	19.01.1973	Draw: 16	W Ian Fletcher (AUS) N/A W 6-2, 6-3	3
Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL	16.01.1973	Draw: 16	W Clark Graebner (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-4	4
Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, USA	03.01.1973	Draw: 16	W Sandy Mayer (USA) N/A W 6-4, 7-5	4
Albany, Albany, CA, U.S.A.	25.09.1972	Draw: 64	W Roscoe Tanner (USA) N/A W 6-2, 7-6	6
Cincinnati, OH, U.S.A.	31.07.1972	Draw: 64	W Guillermo Vilas (ARG) N/A W 6-3, 6-3	6
Columbus, Columbus, OH	23.07.1972	Draw: 32	W Andrew Pattison (USA) N/A W 7-5, 6-3, 7-5	5
London / Queen's Club, England	24.06.1972	Draw: 64	W John Paish (GBR) N/A W 6-2, 6-3	6
Roanoke, Roanoke, VA, USA	21.01.1972	Draw: 4	W Vladimir Zednik (CZE) N/A W 6-4, 7-6	1

Data from ATP Website using http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Co/J/Jimmy-Connors.aspx?t=tf and Playing Activity for All Years. E&OE

What a warrior and what a character Jimbo was on the courts!

So 67 of his 109 titles were won via draws of 32 of less....hmmm.

Great work LF, a great way of showing the detail.
Amazing he won tourneys so far apart...a Trojan!

Thanks, Lydian. . If I get a chance, I will add the highest ranked player Connors met at each of his 109 titles to the table.

And I wonder how many people Connors had to collectively beat (haven't got time to add them all up...but for a 32 man draw Connors would have to beat 5 people to lift the title right, assuming no byes - for a 4 man draw just 2 people) vs Federer for his title haul. Same for Lendl...

This is excellent stuff. I'd heard Jimmys titles weren't all stellar but this is very informative. Thx laverfan.

For the 24, 48, 56 draws he would have clearly had a bye in the first match...

Also...about 80 of the titles were in his home country of US!
Probably just had to beat local wild cards in the early rounds for many of the lower tier events.

It's hard to generalize. ATP web-site records only start at 1973.
In January that year he played at 16-man event, with a bye in the first round and played 3 guys I've never heard of.
In July he played a 32 man event, played all 5 rounds, beating Stan Smith (in the first round), Dick Stockton and Arthur Ashe along the way.
Some of the 8 man events were round robin e.g. WTF.

I guess an important point is that all the other players at that time also played the same events, or types of event, but didn't get half the titles Connors did.

As ever a superb piece of research from laverfan. For me it clearly illustrates how different the game has become in terms of professionalism.

lydian : your point re the proportion of 'domestic' titles is significant, because it is further evidence of just how different things were back then - ie the 'Tour' was nothing like the global beast it is today where we see top players criss-crossing the world to meet various contractual commitments whilst protecting/improving their ranking status.

I think there was another stat quoted recently for Rod Laver, whose titles mostly pre-dated the Open era and so are not fully and accurately documented ; but on the basis of even fairly basic research I think it seems that in a huge percentage of the Finals he was constantly playing the same guy : fellow Aussie and good mate Ken Rosewall, and of course mostly within their home country.

Obviously I would never take anything away from Jimbo or Rod as regards their respective stellar achievements (esp. Rod's ...!!!) at the highest levels in the sport, notably the Slams of course. But I'm pretty certain that neither of them has ever touted around their total career titles figure as some sort of badge of honour. I would imagine they are both well aware that any like-for-like comparisons with today's game must be treated with caution .......

Thanks for yet another fine piece of work laverfan

LF :notworthy:

Is there no ends to your talent on these boards

Stunning piece as ever.

Laver and Rosewall played more matches against each other than some pros get through in a career!

Very interesting stuff. I'd add two points:

a. With the top seeds these days plenty of 64-man draws have a bye for the first round, so to win a normal Masters they need to win 5 matches not 6

b. As Lydian has pointed out, there are many more tournaments these days which group together deep fields including the top international players - 9 Masters, 4 slams, the WTF. When you look at Fedal in each case more than 50% of their wins are at such tournaments (Fed it's something like 43/75, Nadal its something like 32/50). That to my mind is a trully impressive statistic compared to the days of Connors when that was a realative rarity: many of the best players would attend only 2-3 slams each year.

It is important to be clear that this is a reference to early days of the ATP tour - in the Am/Pro era the top pro's faced one another constantly.

Absolutely lags. I was looking at the draws and results for Challenger events this week and next yesterday and was struck how even at that level fields can be extremely strong and the players still come from far and wide. For example, F.Lopez ranked 18 was playing in the Bogota Challenger! Weirdly he lost in the first round...again shows the strength in depth in the mens game right now perhaps compared to the past.

Yep BB...Laver and Rosewall's H2H is ridiculous...something like 160-140...??? They must have been practically married to each other.

WiKipedia says at least 80-63 for Laver-Rosewall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laver-Rosewall_rivalry

It still is an amazing number of matches.

barrystar wrote: (Fed it's something like 43/75, Nadal its something like 32/50).

BarryStar... posters like you make my life hard by quoting numbers and I have to obsessively go and look. But thanks for the idea.

barrystar wrote:Very interesting stuff. I'd add two points:

a. With the top seeds these days plenty of 64-man draws have a bye for the first round, so to win a normal Masters they need to win 5 matches not 6

b. As Lydian has pointed out, there are many more tournaments these days which group together deep fields including the top international players - 9 Masters, 4 slams, the WTF. When you look at Fedal in each case more than 50% of their wins are at such tournaments (Fed it's something like 43/75, Nadal its something like 32/50). That to my mind is a trully impressive statistic compared to the days of Connors when that was a realative rarity: many of the best players would attend only 2-3 slams each year.

It is important to be clear that this is a reference to early days of the ATP tour - in the Am/Pro era the top pro's faced one another constantly.

Indeed, Connors played in a very weak era for the sport!

Updated with number of matches played within each draw size where Connors won titles.

There are only 2 legends one connors who accumulated these stats and 2nd LF who accounted these stats, come on this is insane, LF do your clock have 48 hours /day?