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Casey Defranco, Jimmy Connors' longtime family friend and the co-author of his autobiography, recently shared her thoughts on the book of Connors' rival John McEnroe.
Widely regarded as one of the all-time greats, Connors had an exceptional tennis career. The American won eight Grand Slam singles titles and spent an impressive 268 weeks as the World No. 1. Even today, he holds the record for most tour-level titles, boasting a remarkable 109.
In 2013, the eight-time Grand Slam champion released his autobiography 'The Outsider,' written alongside his co-author Casey Defranco.
Defranco recently made an appearance on the 'Advantage Connors' podcast and disclosed that her intention had been to capture Jimmy Connors' authentic voice in her writing. She also shared insights into her research process, saying that she abandoned John McEnroe's book halfway through due to losing interest.
John McEnroe has penned two autobiographies: 'Serious' in 2002 and its follow-up 'But Seriously' in 2017.
"I knew that I wanted it to sound like Jimmy. Like Jimmy was just talking to someone with whom he would be open. But what I did do was, I read John McEnroe’s book. Well to be honest I read half of McEnroe’s book and then I got a little bit bored," she said (at 27:50).
"Then I read all about that lady, I can’t remember her name, she was an older tennis player from long ago, I read her book. And then I read the other tennis guy who was your contemporary. I did read Pancho’s [Pancho Segura] book," she added.
She reiterated her desire for the book's structure to reflect Connors' voice, a quality she felt was lacking in the other tennis biographies she had read.
"But the structure of your book, I really wanted it to be you talking," Defrance said (at 28:32).
"And the others weren’t like that?" Jimmy Connors interjected.
"Not really," she replied.
Defranco revealed that, alongside John McEnroe's book, she had also read Andre Agassi's autobiography 'Open' as part of her research.
"Agassi’s book?" Connors asked (at 28:44).
"Oh, I read his book too," she responded.
However, she stated that the style in which the other tennis biographies were written didn't align with Connors' personality.
"So you saw the way they were written and said that those would fit me or?" Connors asked.
"It didn't fit you. It didn’t fit your personality," she answered.
A brief look at John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors' rivalry
John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors forged one of the most riveting and compelling rivalries on the tour. The duo locked horns in 34 tour-level encounters, with McEnroe enjoying a 20-14 lead in their head-to-head record.
McEnroe also enjoyed a 6-3 winning record in their matches at Grand Slam tournaments. The duo clashed at the US Open on four occasions, with the seven-time Major champion defeating Connors in three of those. Meanwhile, they split the results of their four Wimbledon meetings. Their solitary encounter at the French Open also went the way of McEnroe.
Their last-ever meeting took place in the semifinals of the 1991 Swiss Indoors, where McEnroe claimed a straight-sets victory.
