"I loved the bullseye on my back" - Jimmy Connors recalls winning three Grand Slams in 1974, explains how it made him a better player

With 2024 marking the 20th anniversary of Jimmy Connors' best season on the ATP tour, he looked back at that campaign with fondness and stated that it made him hungry for more success.

Of the eight Grand Slam titles Connors won in his career, three of them were clinched in 1974 — Australian Open, Wimbledon Championships, and US Open. That year, the then 21-year-old won a total of 15 titles and registered a 93-4 win-loss record, which remains the second-highest winning percentage (95.9) in the Open era, after John McEnroe in 1984.

After starting 1974 ranked World No. 3, he rose to the top of the rankings midway through the year and ended the campaign as the World No. 1 for the first time in his career.

In the latest episode of the Advantage Connors podcast, Connors looked back at the season and explained how it made him hungry for more success on the tour.

“To have a year like like 1974… I look back, it was it was amazing. It was amazing but I wasn't done. A lot of guys would have said ‘Well look I did this and I did that, hey I got to the semifinals of a US Open or an Australian’ and they live off that for f**king 15 years,” he said.

“I was not done, I was trying to do more after that. And that's a pretty high precedent to put to yourself,” he added.

The 71-year-old also shed light on how his success put a target on his back, which he relished.

“But for me, I loved the bullseye on my back. I loved that. I loved everybody coming at me and wanting to beat me. They'd rather beat me than win the tournament. And all that did was make me better,” he expressed.

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Jimmy Connors: “I never expected to be what I ever became”

Jimmy Connors is an eight-time Grand Slam champion.

While 1974 was his most successful year on the ATP tour, Jimmy Connors said that most of the season remains a blur when he looks back. He, however, stated it was an amazing year in his career.

“That's a long time ago. Oh my God. I don't go back, I don't look back, I don't remember, I've got amnesia to a lot of things. But I will say that that year was amazing,” he said.

“And even though I don't remember a lot of it because I was in the eye of the hurricane, when you're in the middle of it you don't really see what's going on around you. The way I played, my success and the amount of tournaments that I won and all that is almost a blur,” he added.

That said, Connors credited his 1974 campaign for catapulting him to stardom and expressed gratitude for everything he was able to achieve in his playing days.

“But kind of started something for me. I mean, I'm from a little town in Illinois. I never expected to be what I ever became,” he stated.