Jimmy Connors feared hip replacement

NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Veteran tennis pro and coach Jimmy Connors said in New York that undergoing hip replacement surgery last October meant overcoming his fear.

Connors, 54, said at the U.S. Open that he kept turning his car around on the way to the hospital last fall, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

"It's true -- on the way to the hospital, I took two wrong turns to get the hell out of there," he said.

"Nothing really scares me, it doesn't -- but to go through this, to look at what it really is -- I mean, you're talking about replacing my hip! I would do anything to avoid it, until it got to the point where it was so bad, I just couldn't."

However, Connors said he left the procedure feeling better than he had in years.

"I woke up and I didn't have one bit of pain. That was the first time in years."