Andy Roddick's wishes to Jimmy Connors on his 71st birthday, expresses admiration for 5-time US Open champion's skills

Andy Roddick has expressed his admiration for Jimmy Connors on the eve of his 71st birthday.

Connors is a former World No. 1 who won eight Grand Slam titles in his career, five at the US Open (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983), two at the Wimbledon Championships (1974, 1982), and one at the Australian Open (1974). He holds the Open Era record for most singles titles (109) and was the year-end No. 1 from 1974 through to 1978.

The American held the top spot in the ATP rankings for 160 consecutive weeks, which was a record until Roger Federer broke it on February 26, 2007. In all, he was the top-ranked men's player for 268 weeks (a little more than five years).

Curiously, Connors failed to reach the French Open final in 13 attempts, despite him once calling Paris his favorite destination on the ATP tour.

With September 2 this year marking the 71st birthday of Connors, the US Open's social media handle shared an old rally of his to mark the occasion.

"Happy birthday to 5-time US Open champion, Jimmy Connors," read the post.

This caught Andy Roddick's attention, who expressed admiration for his compatriot's skills by resharing the post and saying:

"Put it in my veins ….. Happy Bday Jimmy Connors"

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Andy Roddick speaks up as players struggle physically at US Open 2023

Andy Roddick is a former American World No. 1.

The alleged rise of an unknown illness at the US Open that year has affected players like Ons Jabeur, Dominic Thiem, and Christopher Eubanks, among others.

While Emil Ruusuvuori pulled out of the tournament due to illness, Jabeur struggled with breathing and coughing problems during her first-round match against Camila Osorio.

Eubanks fell ill during his loss to Benjamin Bonzi, and a stomach issue and vomiting before Thiem's match against Ben Shelton forced the Austrian to retire midway through the contest.

Former US Open champion Andy Roddick then took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and said:

"Lots of players going down/struggling physically w something at the Open....."

Roddick's statement later caught Nick Kyrgios' attention, who sarcastically remarked about how the tennis season could be longer than it already is.

"It’s because the tennis season isn’t long enough, there aren’t enough tournaments," he said.