this is jimmy connors on the show recently. here it is. >> we had something special, charlie. i mean, we had a rivalry that in my heart meant something. >>. >> rose: what did it mean? >> everything. because sworp alike in a lot of ways and i always wanted to know -- >> rose: you mean brash and cocky? >> left-handed. from the u.s. same attitude. his strengths, my strengths, serve and volley versus my return. so i always wanted to know what it was like to play myself. in 1984 in the finals of wimbledon i was -- you know, i don't like saying this, he took me apart pretty quickly in the finals of wimbledon and i thought he was going to be around for a while but, you know i think that was a classic case of other things creeping into your life. >> rose: >> he's such a know it all. >> rose: (laughs) >> let's go to the tape of that match. i was around. i didn't win anymore. i won the next major after that, too, but it got -- things happen and he's right about that. playing connors taught me a lot about how to compete and i knew that i was trying to take away something that i was holdi

his rivalrys with bjorn borg, jimmy connors and ivan lendl have shaped the standards of modern excellence. today he's determined to make the game more accessible to talented young people in the united states. in 2010 he opened the john mcenroe tennis academy in new york. he also just returned from the french open where raffa nadal captured his eighth ground. all eyes now turn to wimbledon which begins on june 24. as always, we're pleased to have john mcenroe back at this table. welcome. >> good to see you again. >> rose: what are you doing with your life right now? >> well, my life is mainly tennis. i play tennis. i'm on the old foege gives tour, i call it. >> it's exhibitions? >> it's somewhere between an exhibition and real event. we go out to play but we want to entertain but there's good players out there, sampras, agassi, so i've got my hands full as well as a guy like bjorn borg, my great rival ivan lendl comes back into the game after 17 years being out. i also do the commentary, as you mentioned, so i do the majors and the this tennis academy is probably the newest venture to try

connors, the music of matthew morrison and "pumpcasting." and now, jay leno! [ cheers and applause ] captions paid for by nbc-universal television captions by vitac www.vitac.com ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jay: thank you very much. hi, everybody. welcome to the show. hey, some -- some exciting news from the world of sports. listen to this. it seems tim tebow has signed with the new england patriots. how about that? yeah.

i want to thank my guests, jamie foxx, jimmy connors and, of course, matthew morrison. tomorrow night, kevin hart will be here! but, "jimmy fallon," happening right now. jimmy! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> that sign says "applesauce." [ laughter ] no, no, no, shh, shh, shh. i'm kidding. it says "applause." gav? [ cheers and applause ] good, there you go. now, could you do me a favor gav? can you flick that one? just flick it? there you go. [ cheers and applause ] all right. now, remember you're all a big part of the show so the better you are the better jimmy is. okay, now you see this lovely woman over here. good. yeah. she's giving me this sign. and it's we're on in 10 seconds so, ready to have a good time? all right. this is exciting isn't it? >> here we go guys, in 5-4-3 -- >> announcer: from studio 6b in rockefeller center, the national broadcasting company presents -- tonight's guests are -- and featuring the legendary roots crew. and here he is -- jimmy fallon! [ cheers and applause ] -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: t

. >> rose: mike connors. >> exactly. no matter how hard i was trying i looked at the other side of the net and i saw a guy who was trying harder than me. and i thought this son of a bitch is trying harder than me at every single point but it made me a lot better player. i had to try harder and he was so intense. everything was life or death. and then he would manage which i never did. see i managed to have the greatest round of applause before a match to be unbelievable. by the end of the match everyone's booing me. that's quite a quality john. >> rose: here you are saying the guys you respect are the guys who worked the hardest, practiced the hardest, cared more about winning. and yet i think you have said that if you had worked harder at it you might have won more. >> that's why i have probably a little bid of a love/hate relationship with myself. >> rose: you do. >> i do. i mean, i've had a great life so as the father of six i try to sort of say to myself look are you going to look at the glass half empty half full at