Jimmy Connors flunks the Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner era.

Jimmy Connors: “Tennis has become impoverished.”

Former U.S. tennis star Jimmy Connors in his podcast ‘Advantage Connors’ sharply criticized the current state of tennis: “It has been impoverished, for top players only Slams count… In my day, every match mattered. You played more and it was important to win against the other big rivals. There were rivalries that ran all year long and even in smaller tournaments you saw great tennis, everyone gave their all. Today the emphasis is only on Grand Slam tournaments, the others are just preparation. Many guys think they’ve already had a good season when they’ve reached a Grand Slam semifinal or final. That to me is an impoverishment.”

However, Connors said he was curious about the future: “The next great tennis player will be different, sort of a hybrid, showing the power of current tennis but also an ‘old school’ attitude to look like Roger Federer.”