"It is not satisfactory to stick around as No. 15 or 20" - When John McEnroe reiterated his stance to retire despite defeating Jimmy Connors

John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors had a fierce rivalry and they faced one another on 34 occasions. The last meeting between the two came in the semifinals of the 1991 Swiss Indoors in Basel.

McEnroe was seeded eighth at the tournament and entered the final four following straight-set wins over Thierry Guardiola, his brother Patrick, and Christian Bergstrom. Here, he faced Jimmy Connors, who received a wildcard for the main draw and beat Laurent Prades, Petr Korda, and Amos Mansdorf, all in straight sets.

McEnroe produced a fine performance to beat his rival 6-1, 6-3 and book his place in the final of the Swiss Indoors. The American stated after the fixture that he played his best match of 1991.

"I expected it to be a close match because Jimmy is a great tennis player. It was the best match I played this year. My game is really picking up now," McEnroe said.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion also stated that the victory did not change his stance on retiring from tennis after the 1992 season. McEnroe claimed that he would have to beat top players like Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, and Stefan Edberg in order to change his mind as he did not want to stay on tour ranked 15th or 20th.

"For me to change my mind, I would have to beat the Number 1, 2, 3 and 4 guys, guys like Becker, Edberg and Lendl. It is not satisfactory for me to stick around as Number 15 or 20, and I am sure it is not satisfactory to Jimmy either," John McEnroe said.

McEnroe was beaten 7-6(4), 6-0, 6-3 by Jakob Hlasek in the men's singles final in Basel. He also managed to reach the men's doubles final of the tournament with Petr Korda as his partner. However, the pair lost 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 to McEnroe's singles final opponent Hlasek and brother Patrick.

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John McEnroe's final singles match came in 1994

John McEnroe with Jack Sock at the Laver Cup

John McEnroe did retire from tennis in 1992 but changed his decision and played one final tournament in Rotterdam in 1994. The American was a wildcard and suffered a 6-2, 7-6(5) defeat to Magnus Gustafsson in the first round. This was the last singles match of his illustrious career.

Five years later, in 1999, McEnroe competed in the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon 1999 with Steffi Graf as his partner. The duo reached the semifinals but had to withdraw from the tournament as Graf wanted to focus on the women's singles final.