TOP NEWS: 9 Tennis Rivalries That Stoked Hate: ft… read more

With the US Open men’s semi-finals about to begin, the contests on the schedule feel more like a love-in than grudge matches.

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are best mates, while Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper get on well off the court too…

People want (a bit of) friction, right? It’s a war out there, as Jimmy Connors once said. Here are some of the most heated relationships between players

Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe

When Arthur Ashe walked on court in the 1975 Wimbledon final with a USA Davis Cup blazer, it was seen as an unsubtle dig at Jimmy Connors’ lack of commitment to the national team.

Connors, the then world No 1, was in the middle of a $3 million dollar lawsuit against Ashe, who had called him “unpatriotic.”

When the tennis began on Centre Court, the 32-year old took the pace off the ball and bamboozled Connors in front of a stunned crowd, winning in four sets.

A few days later, Ashe referred to ‘Jimbo’ as a “nice guy” and said he was the best player in men’s tennis. Connors dropped his lawsuit.

Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl

An 18-year-old Pat Cash, fresh from the junior circuit, ran into the established world No 1 Ivan Lendl in a Monte Carlo Country Club locker room in 1983.

Cash said that Lendl made fun of some red jogging shoes that had been given to him and literally destroyed them in front of the teenager. The Australian flew into a rage and the pair had to be separated by Paul McNamee.

“From that day on, I disliked the guy intensely. He was always so conceited, so superior, and always used to put people down,” Cash recalled.