Jimmy Connors was one of the best American tennis players ever to live. Vitas Gerulaitis, decidedly, was merely good. He had won the Australian Open once, in 1977. But the Lithuanian-American had lost sixteen straight times to Jimmy Connors by 1980, when finally Vitas beat the legend in straight sets.
The media gathered in Madison Square Garden’s press conference room after the match. They waited for the victor to emerge. Sixteen times! they whispered to each other. He took the stage. He took the microphone. He looked each writer in the eye. Slowly.
