"If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can."
- Ivan Lendl
The tennis landscape of the late 70s was carved through the genius and relentless spirit of the Borg-Connors-Mcenroe trium. Tennis had soared in popularity through the force of their rivalry and contrasting personality. It was a time of plenty, there was Borg’s champion baseline play that was solid and unwavering, Connor’s guts of steel and Mcenroe’s incomparable flair. Amidst their towering presence arrived a lanky young pretender named Ivan Lendl with a unique style of power serve and a colossal forehand stroke. It wasn’t hard to notice where the young pretender was headed as he carved his way to grand slam finals, most tour wins and davis cup and world team trophies. As Borg retired Ivan slided in to complete the triangle with Connors and Mcenroe and the expectation of a see-saw battle between the greats consumed the minds of tennis fans.
"He doesn't have as much talent as I do in my little finger."
- John Mcenroe on Lendl
A lot has been said in the past about the tennis legend Ivan Lendl and few have been a tribute. While many across Europe and Asia have admired lendl he was far less liked in his country of choice, America. For a man whose records stretched miles he’s perhaps best remembered for his failure to win at Wimbledon and a terminatoresque personality! Ivan was clearly devoid of the charm and charisma of other flamboyant champions like Borg, Mcenroe or an Agassi and was considered at best a “Charming Robot”. Weirdly enough many of the reasons why Ivan was hated were the reason for the genesis of modern tennis. Consider this, Ivan’s game was built on power strokes like a booming serve, a blazing forehand and a vicious topspin backhand, fanatic fitness routines to last 10 months of gruelling tennis, specialist support staff for everything- fitness, diets, business management and Tennis. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? In the early 80s there was only one Ivan lendl but come the 90s every player wielding a tennis racquet would have answered in the affirmative to those vintage Lendl characteristics. If one were to map out Tennis evolution, Ivan’s place stands out for he is not only the reason for the “power game” in men’s tennis but also the prototype of the modern tennis player.
“We were all in awe of him.”
- Pete Sampras on Lendl
He was truly the Original and the grand daddy of the Samprases, Federers and Nadals for not only the clear genetic footprint in tennis style and professionalism but also his relentless domination. Consider this, Ivan held the record for (A) most weeks at No1 spot ever (270), (B) most grand slam finals appearances (19), (C) most consecutive appearances at slam semi-finals, (D) most years with a win record of 90% or more (4) amongst many others. He was a picture of consistency who drew through his powerful strokes, towering records in the background of fierce and unsettling landscape on the 80’s tennis canvass. This domination held at bay tennis players of the calibre of Wilander, Mcenroe, Becker and Edberg for the most part. Lendl broke the record for consecutive finals at the US open by getting there 8 straight years. This is THE notorious US open we’re talking about where firstly, matches got played well past 2 AM in the morning, spectators callously walked in stands between rallies and planes took off every five minutes from the La Guardia airport right over flushing meadows shrouding the courts in sonic chaos. It was the kind of place where Becker, Edberg, fell early many times before conquering the peak and one that Borg failed to conquer. No wonder then that he was named the 5th greatest male player of all time by the Tennis magazine in 2005. The fact that he competed with 6 players in the top 10 all time only adds to the great man’s halo.
“He taught me everything I know”
- Mats Wilander on Lendl
Like many tales of excellence, the dominator Ivan Lendl was moulded through defeats at the hands of three of the finest tennis players in history, Connors, Borg and Mcenroe. Ivan by the age of 23 had already led his native country to the Davis cup, reached the No1 spot and made four slam finals but importantly never managed a slam victory. The much younger Wilander in comparison had already added 3 titles to his kitty and looked set for more. Try as he might lendl always lost in the final of the slams for an eternity by tennis standards. While he was all conquering in regular tournaments and the year ending Masters, the search for a grand slam win brought him to his knees.
Lendl who had often been ridiculed for a lack of talent and choking on big occasions looked the part but that wasn’t the whole truth. In reality he was a great talent as he did achieve more than any other of his generation at that time including the No 1 ranking. While most players started playing with oversized heads Ivan still stuck to the midsize racquet head, which is much tougher to handle, something that’s not manageable without talent. He was however a gifted choker! He somehow found a way to get beaten at slam finals and his reclusive personality only fired up the preying press in the hunt for blood. Grand Slam wins looked set for a distant day but that day did come and it wasn’t sudden…
Ivan was a reclusive personality and a dogged competitor in an era of greats. The press sadly focussed on his competitiveness to make him look mean. However, when you’re a monotonous baseliner with little interest in courting the press you can’t expect much from those daily papers right? The relentless onslaught of the press made Lendl self conscious and got him to choke many times in Slam finals early in his career. He was also a man of great intelligence, reasoning and meticulous planning and liked to stay in control of situations. Changes in match situations like minor niggles during match play particularly in finals or vast changes in the opponents play affected Lendl (an injured Chang served underhand against lendl and won). But far from self destructing the great man introspected on what it took to elevate his skills to the next level and did so in a stupendous manner. Lendl realised that his fitness and mental preparation needed to be upped a notch and he set about training his mind and body in a revolutionary way by incorporating the latest and greatest ideas in physical and mental conditioning by enlisting services of top dieticians, trainers and psychologists. He now had more in reserve come crunch time 5th set and it showed, Ivan’s first slam win in 1984 was a marathon achievement as he came back from 2 sets down against John Mcenroe on clay and went on to add 7 more titles in the next few years.
Truth to be told Ivan was a great talent albeit one dimensional, a choker turned champion and one of the best competitors you could ever find! His inability to win at Wimbledon did diminish his grass court profile but in defence he did stand second best twice at the hallowed turf, which is no mean achievement in itself. He changed the modern game of tennis on it’s head by heralding a generation of professional tennis players! It’s perhaps why many commentators willingly honor the man as, The Great Ivan Lendl!
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