I Hate To Lose More Than I

I'm Not Begging To Be Remembered Or Whatever. I Did My Thing, And If You Remember, That's Even Better. But If You Don't, There's So Many Other Things Going On.

I Can't Say That I Was My Happiest On Court, But I Felt Completely Free. Free From Family Obligations, Free From My Own Torment. In A Real Sense I Was A Different Person. It Was A Place Where I Could Not Tolerate The Idea Of Being Beaten. I Psyched Myself Up Into A State Where I Felt Something Close To Hatred Towards My Opponent, A State Where I Detested The Idea Of Someone Making His Name At The Expense Of Jimmy Connors. I Was In My Element On Court, Measuring Myself Against Someone Else. I Was Not Competitive For Show. It Came From Deep Within.

I Had True Rivalries. Not Only Did I Want To Beat My Opponent, But I Didn't Want To Let Him Up, Either. I Had A Rivalry With Mac, Lendl, Borg. Everybody Knew There Was Tension Between Us, On Court And Off. That's What's Really Ingrained In My Mind: 'this Is Real. This Isn't A Soft Rivalry.' There Were No Hugs And Kisses.

I Was Never Part Of The Crowd.

Playing In Front Of 25,000 People And Millions More On Television, And Performing And Doing What I Worked So Hard To Try To Accomplish Was, In My Opinion, The Ultimate. Do I Miss It? Of Course I Do.