One of the three doctors who treated Jimmy Connors after his nearly five-hour match in the U.S. Open described the performance as "a physiological happening."
"I really think it was quite miraculous," said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, an internist and specialist in sports medicine. "I challenge anybody to match the effort he just made at his age. I was in awe of his physical capacity. That's a horrendous effort for a 39-year-old to go through. It was an absolutely incredible performance."Wadler described the quiet scene in the locker room when Connors walked in gingerly, away from the tumult in the stadium, after beating Aaron Krickstein in a fifth-set tiebreaker to reach the quarterfinals.
"He was very pensive," Wadler said. "I was extremely moved. It was a profound experience. I've never seen him that way and I've been here since 1980."
Connors, worried about cramping, didn't sit or lie down after the 4-hour, 41-minute match. He received two liters of rehydration fluid intravenously while walking slowly around the trainer's room and pushing the pole that held the bottles. The process took about an hour and a half.