Gloria Connors was a rarity: a mother who was also a world-class coach. 

As a player, she knew the game from the inside. She was a St. Louis District champion, a member of the Junior Wightman Cup team, ranked No. 4 as a junior in the Missouri Valley and No. 22 nationally. She played twice at the U.S. Nationals at Forest Hills. 

She took everything she learned and gave it to her son. Gloria didn't just teach Jimmy Connors to play tennis. She taught him how to compete — with a no-holds-barred intensity that would define his career and terrorize opponents for two decades. 

Jimmy said it best: "She was my mother, my coach and my friend all at the same time. She made me a world champion." 

(2017)