SANTA BARBARA, California — Tennis great Jimmy Connors was arrested outside the campus arena where UC Santa Barbara and top-ranked North Carolina were playing a basketball game.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion was taken into custody Friday night after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation, police Sgt. Dan Massey said in a statement.
A police dispatcher said Connors was arrested at the beginning of the game.
A Santa Barbara County jail employee said Connors had not been booked as of early Saturday.
Connors lives in the Santa Barbara area and attends a handful of the Gauchos’ games each season.
Connors was ranked No. 1 for five consecutive years in the 1970s, and had a fiery temperament on the court. Earlier this year, he resigned as Andy Roddick’s coach after working together for nearly two years.
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A confrontation with whom? The police?