Teachers' Day Special: Judy Murray and Gloria Connors - The pillars for Andy and Jimmy

Judy’s story is similar to the way Gloria Connors was perceived when she arrived into a man’s world as the female coach of a male player. Gloria, a strong and intense tennis mother, was the driving force behind Jimmy Connors’s career and was an integral part of the way Jimmy played and even behaved. In spite of being constantly disparaged, Gloria, a former tennis player and a competitor at the US Nationals twice, moulded her son’s game with able support from her own parents.

Jimmy Connors with his mother Gloria Connors and father James

From building the tennis foundation to forging the competitive drive, Gloria Connors had always been Jimmy’s pillar of strength. She imbibed his game with strong ground-strokes and taught him the necessity of taking the ball on the rise. Not only that, in their family backyard court in East St. Louis, Illinois, she would regularly slam shots past him in the hope of making an improvisation in his aggressive game.

Gloria was a hard taskmaster and would urge little Jimmy ‘to play like a crazy animal.’ “Get those tiger juices flowing,” – she would plead with Jimmy to channelize his inner rage into bashing the ball. But perhaps the reason for his intense anger and antics were far more deep-seated.

As a boy of the tender age of 8, he had to deal with the harsh reality of seeing his mother and grandfather being beaten up and bloodied on the public courts by a pair of rogues. Gloria was battered and bruised and struggled with her injuries till her death. That day proved to be fateful as it made Connors the way we know him as he talks about it in his autobiography, ‘The Outsider,’ – “This day will transform me more than any other event in my life. After watching my mom get battered, the need for revenge ran strong in me, and I found I could use the emotion. I took my anger and used it in my tennis.”

Tennis created an everlasting alliance between the hot-headed guy known as ‘Brash Basher of Belleville’ and his mother, and much like Judy, Gloria became Jimmy’s lifelong coach, publicist, manager and never missed any of his matches. Even when she took him to Southern California for tutelage by Pancho Segura, the Ecuadorian player, she never parted with her favourite pupil.

Both Andy Murray and Jimmy Connors have constantly defended their dedicated and courageous mothers and stood by them through thick and thin, appreciating their lifelong commitment and contribution to making them who they are today. Through every little step, these brave women not only helped their sons reach dizzying heights on the tennis courts, but also influenced the way they looked at life. “All my life she taught me — made me a world champion.” Connors said of his mother upon her death.

Perhaps the sweetest and most heartfelt token of gratitude that a son can ever give his mother was what Andy gifted his mum one Christmas. In a neat little card, the young Andy thanked his mum for ‘always believing in me, always supporting me, always letting me make my own decisions.’

Isn’t that what we all want to thank our teachers for?