Ivan Lendl
Encyclopedia
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia
, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl captured eight Grand Slam
singles titles. He competed in 19 Grand Slam singles finals, at the time a record for a man, since surpassed by Roger Federer
in 2009. He reached at least one Grand Slam final for 11 consecutive years, a record shared with Pete Sampras
. Before the formation of the ATP
Lendl reached a record 12 year-end championships (equaled by John McEnroe). He won two WCT Finals
titles and five Masters Grand Prix
titles. He also won a record 22 Championship Series
titles (1980–89) the precursors to the current ATP Masters 1000
. Lendl first attained the world no. 1 ranking on February 28, 1983 and bolstered his claim to the top spot when he defeated John McEnroe
in the 1984 French Open
final. For much of the next five years, Lendl was the top ranked player until August 1990 (with a break from September 1988 to January 1989 when Mats Wilander
was at the top). He finished four years ranked as the world's top player (1985–1987 and 1989) and was ranked no. 1 for a total of 270 weeks and set a new record previously held by Jimmy Connors
, since broken by Pete Sampras
and Roger Federer
.
Lendl's game relied particularly on strength and heavy topspin from the baseline and helped usher in the modern era of "power tennis". He himself described his game as "hitting hot", a relentless all-court game that was coming to dominate in tennis.
, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic
). His parents were top players in Czechoslovakia. (His mother Olga was at one point ranked the no. 2 woman player in the country). Lendl turned professional in tennis in 1978. He started to live in the United States in 1981, first at the home of mentor and friend Wojtek Fibak; later, in 1984, Lendl bought his own residence in Greenwich, Connecticut
. Ivan applied for and received a U.S. Permanent Resident Card
(also known as a Green Card) in 1987 and wanted to get U.S. citizenship as soon as possible to represent the USA in the 1988 Olympic Games and in Davis Cup. A bill in Congress
to bypass the traditional five-year waiting procedure was rejected in 1988 because Czechoslovak authorities refused to provide the necessary waivers. He became a U.S. citizen on July 7, 1992.
On September 16, 1989, six days after losing the final of the US Open
to Boris Becker
, Lendl married Samantha Frankel. They have five daughters: Marika (born May 4, 1990), twins Isabelle
and Caroline (born July 29, 1991), Daniela (born June 24, 1993), and Nikola (born January 20, 1998).
He transferred his competitive interests to professional golf where he achieved a win on the Celebrity Tour. Still competitive at the mini-tour levels, Lendl now devotes much of his time managing the development of his daughters' golfing abilities. Two of his daughters (Marika and Isabelle) are members of the University of Florida
Women's Golf Team. Daniela is a member of the University of Alabama
Women's Golf Team. His daughter Caroline walked onto the University of Alabama
Women's Rowing Team for the 2011–2012 academic year, and his daughter Nikola enjoys eventing horses.
, Kevin Curren
, Jimmy Connors
) in Sun City
, in the apartheid
-era bantustan
of Bophuthatswana
. The Czechoslovak Sport Federation (ČSTV), controlled by the Communist Party, expelled him from the Czechoslovak Davis Cup
team and fined him $150,000. Lendl disagreed with the punishment and fine.
In addition, the publication of his name and results in the Czechoslovak media was prohibited. The ban was extended not only to Lendl, but to anything about world tennis, all tennis tournaments and both men's and women's circuits (with the exception of blank Grand Slam results).
The appearance in this exhibition in Sun City and Lendl's Americanized living style ignited a long-lasting dispute between Lendl and the Czechoslovak communist authorities, which was never settled and resulted in his decision to apply for a green card
in 1987 and later on for U.S. citizenship.
, for using his heavy topspin forehand to dictate play. His trademark shot was his running forehand, which he could direct either down the line or cross-court.
Early in his career Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early 1980s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin. This shift allowed him to defeat John McEnroe in 1984 in the French Open – Lendl's first Grand Slam victory. In the first two sets McEnroe used his habitual proximity to the net to intercept Lendl's cross-court passing shots. In the third set Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs. McEnroe's further distance from the net opened the angles for Lendl's cross-court passing shots, which ultimately gained Lendl points and turned the match around.
Lendl's serve was powerful but inconsistent. His very high toss may have been to blame. Lendl's consistency from the baseline was machine-like. Though tall and apparently gangly, Lendl was very fast on the court. Lendl did not win Wimbledon because he could not sufficiently improve his consistency at the net. Grass courts yield notoriously bad bounces, and that destabilized his baseline game more than other baseliners. His groundstroke setup was very complete, almost robotic and repeated bad bounces made him uncomfortable. Wimbledon in those days required reducing baseline play by coming to the net. He devoted considerable effort to improving his net play, but fell short of a Wimbledon title. Toward the end of his days on the ATP tour Lendl ended his long term clothing, shoe and racket deal with Adidas
. He signed with Mizuno, and finally began to play with a mid-sized racket very similar to the Adidas racket he had used throughout most of his career, itself based on the Kneissl White Star model.
clothing and Kneissl
racquet, changed later for Adidas racquet. Since 2010, he began using Bosworth
racquet.
Lendl made an almost immediate impact on the game after turning professional. After reaching his first top-level singles final in 1979, he won seven singles titles in 1980, including three tournament wins in three consecutive weeks on three different surfaces. The success continued in 1981 as he won 10 titles including his first season ending Masters Grand Prix
tour title defeating Vitas Gerulaitis
in five sets.
In 1982, he won in total 15 of the 23 singles tournaments he entered and had a 44-match winning streak.
He competed on the separate World Championship Tennis
(WCT) tour where he won all 10 WCT tournaments he entered, including winning his first WCT Finals
where he defeated John McEnroe
in straight sets. He met McEnroe again in the Masters Grand Prix
final and won in straight sets to claim his second season ending championship of that particular tour.
In an era when tournament prize money was rising sharply due to the competition between 2 circuits (Grand Prix and WCT), Lendl's haul of titles quickly made him the highest-earning tennis player of all time.
He won another seven tournaments in 1983.
But Grand Slam
titles eluded Lendl in the early years of his career. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in 1981, where he lost in five sets to Björn Borg
. His second came at the US Open in 1982, where he was defeated by Jimmy Connors. In 1983, he was the runner-up at both the Australian Open and the US Open.
Lendl's first Grand Slam title came at the 1984 French Open
, where he defeated John McEnroe
in a long final to claim what was arguably his best victory. Down two sets to love and later trailing 4–2 in the fourth set, Lendl battled back to claim the title 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. McEnroe gained a measure of revenge by beating Lendl in straight sets in both finals of the US Open 1984 and Volvo Masters
1984 (played in January 1985).
Lendl lost in the final of the 1985 French Open
to Mats Wilander
. He then faced McEnroe again in the final of the US Open, and this time it was Lendl who emerged victorious in a straight sets win. It was the first of three consecutive US Open titles for Lendl and part of a run of eight consecutive US Open finals. He reached the WCT Finals
for the second and last time defeating Tim Mayotte
in three sets. Success continued when he also took the Masters Grand Prix
title for the third time defeating Boris Becker
in straight sets.
In 1986 and 1987 he added wins in the French Open to his U.S Open victories including the season ending 1986 and 1987 Masters Grand Prix
championship titles, Where he defeated Boris Becker (86) in straight sets and Mats Wilander
(87) in three sets. This took him to his fifth and last Grand Prix year end tour title.
During each of the years from 1985 through 1987, Lendl's match winning percentage was greater than 90%. This record was equalled by Roger Federer
in 2006. Lendl, however, remains the only male tennis player with at least 90% match wins in five different years (1982 was the first, 1989 the last). From the 1985 US Open through the 1988 Australian Open, Lendl reached ten consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals—a record that was broken by Federer at the 2006 US Open.
1989 was another very strong year for Lendl. He started the year by capturing his first Australian Open title with a straight sets final victory over Miloslav Mečíř
and went on to claim 10 titles out of 17 tournaments he entered. Lendl successfully defended his Australian Open title in 1990.
The only Grand Slam singles title Lendl never managed to win was Wimbledon. After reaching the semifinals in 1983 and 1984, he reached the final there twice, losing in straight sets to Boris Becker
in 1986 and Pat Cash
in 1987. In the years that followed, Lendl put in intensive efforts to train and hone his game on grass courts. But despite reaching the Wimbledon semifinals again in 1988, 1989 and 1990, he never again reached the final.
Lendl was part of the team that won Czechoslovakia's only Davis Cup
title in 1980. He was the driving force behind the country's team in the first half of the 1980s but stopped playing in the event after he moved to the United States in 1986 because, in the eyes of communist Czechoslovakia's Tennis Association, he was an "illegal defector" from their country.
Lendl was also part of the Czechoslovakian team that won the World Team Cup
in 1981 and was runner-up in 1984 and 1985.
Lendl's success in the game was due in large part to his highly meticulous and intensive training and physical conditioning regime, his scientific approach to preparing for and playing the game, and a strong desire to put in whatever it took to be successful. It is believed that a contributing factor to his run of eight successive US Open finals and long record of success at that tournament was that he hired the same workers who laid the hardcourt
surfaces at Flushing Meadows each year to install an exact copy in the grounds of his home in Greenwich
, Connecticut
.
Lendl announced his retirement from professional tennis on December 21, 1994, due to chronic back pain. Although he didn't play any official match following his defeat in the 2nd round of the US Open in 1994, Lendl's final decision to retire came only three and a half months later.
Lendl won a total of 94 career singles titles listed by the ATP (plus 49 other non-ATP tournaments, thus making a total of 144 singles titles) and 6 doubles titles, and his career prize money of U.S. $21,262,417 was a record at the time. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
.
After finishing his tennis career, Lendl took up golf, earning a handicap of 0 and organizing a charity competition in 2004 called the "Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament".
Lendl's professional attitude, modern playing style, scientific training methods, and unprecedented long-term success have had a considerable impact on today's tennis world. A typical Lendl quote is: "If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can."'
Ivan Lendl's return to tennis was announced on February 2, 2010 at a press conference announcing the Caesars Tennis Classic exhibition match scheduled for April 10, 2010 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Lendl will be playing his rival from the late 1980s, Mats Wilander, in a one set match. This will be Lendl's first tournament since his 1994 retirement. Venus Williams will host the tournament and additional matches will include US men's #1 Andy Roddick versus the recently retired Marat Safin.
On February 28, 2011, Lendl returned to the court in an exhibition with McEnroe at Madison Square Garden. It was planned to be a one-set, first-to-eight event. However, McEnroe, leading 6–3, injured his ankle and had to retire from the match.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl captured eight Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles titles. He competed in 19 Grand Slam singles finals, at the time a record for a man, since surpassed by Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in 2009. He reached at least one Grand Slam final for 11 consecutive years, a record shared with Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
. Before the formation of the ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
Lendl reached a record 12 year-end championships (equaled by John McEnroe). He won two WCT Finals
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
titles and five Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
titles. He also won a record 22 Championship Series
Grand Prix Tennis Championship Series 1970-1989
The Championship Series of nine tennis tournaments, formed part of the Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis tours, and were held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia...
titles (1980–89) the precursors to the current ATP Masters 1000
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...
. Lendl first attained the world no. 1 ranking on February 28, 1983 and bolstered his claim to the top spot when he defeated John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in the 1984 French Open
French Open (tennis)
The French Open |Roland Garros]]) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are...
final. For much of the next five years, Lendl was the top ranked player until August 1990 (with a break from September 1988 to January 1989 when Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
was at the top). He finished four years ranked as the world's top player (1985–1987 and 1989) and was ranked no. 1 for a total of 270 weeks and set a new record previously held by Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
, since broken by Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
and Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
.
Lendl's game relied particularly on strength and heavy topspin from the baseline and helped usher in the modern era of "power tennis". He himself described his game as "hitting hot", a relentless all-court game that was coming to dominate in tennis.
Personal life
Lendl was born into a tennis family in OstravaOstrava
Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
(now Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
). His parents were top players in Czechoslovakia. (His mother Olga was at one point ranked the no. 2 woman player in the country). Lendl turned professional in tennis in 1978. He started to live in the United States in 1981, first at the home of mentor and friend Wojtek Fibak; later, in 1984, Lendl bought his own residence in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. Ivan applied for and received a U.S. Permanent Resident Card
United States Permanent Resident Card
United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....
(also known as a Green Card) in 1987 and wanted to get U.S. citizenship as soon as possible to represent the USA in the 1988 Olympic Games and in Davis Cup. A bill in Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to bypass the traditional five-year waiting procedure was rejected in 1988 because Czechoslovak authorities refused to provide the necessary waivers. He became a U.S. citizen on July 7, 1992.
On September 16, 1989, six days after losing the final of the US Open
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
to Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
, Lendl married Samantha Frankel. They have five daughters: Marika (born May 4, 1990), twins Isabelle
Isabelle Lendl
Isabelle Lendl is an American amateur golfer. She finished second in the 2006 American Junior Golf Association girls standings. She ranked first in the Top Fives and was named a first team Rolex Junior All-American. Her father is Ivan Lendl, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame...
and Caroline (born July 29, 1991), Daniela (born June 24, 1993), and Nikola (born January 20, 1998).
He transferred his competitive interests to professional golf where he achieved a win on the Celebrity Tour. Still competitive at the mini-tour levels, Lendl now devotes much of his time managing the development of his daughters' golfing abilities. Two of his daughters (Marika and Isabelle) are members of the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
Women's Golf Team. Daniela is a member of the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
Women's Golf Team. His daughter Caroline walked onto the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
Women's Rowing Team for the 2011–2012 academic year, and his daughter Nikola enjoys eventing horses.
South African exhibition and aftermath
In July 1983, Lendl played three exhibition matches (against Johan KriekJohan Kriek
Johan Kriek is a South African American professional male tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. Kriek has won two Australian Opens and has reached the semi-finals at the French...
, Kevin Curren
Kevin Curren
----Kevin Melvyn Curren is a former professional tennis player. He played in two Grand Slam singles finals and won four Grand Slam doubles titles.-Career:...
, Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
) in Sun City
Sun City, North West
Sun City is a luxury casino and resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.- History :...
, in the apartheid
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
-era bantustan
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
of Bophuthatswana
Bophuthatswana
Bophuthatswana , officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana was a Bantustan – an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity – and nominal parliamentary democracy in the northwestern region of South Africa...
. The Czechoslovak Sport Federation (ČSTV), controlled by the Communist Party, expelled him from the Czechoslovak Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
team and fined him $150,000. Lendl disagreed with the punishment and fine.
In addition, the publication of his name and results in the Czechoslovak media was prohibited. The ban was extended not only to Lendl, but to anything about world tennis, all tennis tournaments and both men's and women's circuits (with the exception of blank Grand Slam results).
The appearance in this exhibition in Sun City and Lendl's Americanized living style ignited a long-lasting dispute between Lendl and the Czechoslovak communist authorities, which was never settled and resulted in his decision to apply for a green card
United States Permanent Resident Card
United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....
in 1987 and later on for U.S. citizenship.
Playing style
Lendl was known, along with Björn BorgBjörn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
, for using his heavy topspin forehand to dictate play. His trademark shot was his running forehand, which he could direct either down the line or cross-court.
Early in his career Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early 1980s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin. This shift allowed him to defeat John McEnroe in 1984 in the French Open – Lendl's first Grand Slam victory. In the first two sets McEnroe used his habitual proximity to the net to intercept Lendl's cross-court passing shots. In the third set Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs. McEnroe's further distance from the net opened the angles for Lendl's cross-court passing shots, which ultimately gained Lendl points and turned the match around.
Lendl's serve was powerful but inconsistent. His very high toss may have been to blame. Lendl's consistency from the baseline was machine-like. Though tall and apparently gangly, Lendl was very fast on the court. Lendl did not win Wimbledon because he could not sufficiently improve his consistency at the net. Grass courts yield notoriously bad bounces, and that destabilized his baseline game more than other baseliners. His groundstroke setup was very complete, almost robotic and repeated bad bounces made him uncomfortable. Wimbledon in those days required reducing baseline play by coming to the net. He devoted considerable effort to improving his net play, but fell short of a Wimbledon title. Toward the end of his days on the ATP tour Lendl ended his long term clothing, shoe and racket deal with Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
. He signed with Mizuno, and finally began to play with a mid-sized racket very similar to the Adidas racket he had used throughout most of his career, itself based on the Kneissl White Star model.
Equipment
While professional, Lendl used AdidasAdidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
clothing and Kneissl
Kneissl
Kneissl is an Austrian manufacturer of hand made skis, biking and tennis equipment and apparel, based in Kufstein in the state of Tyrol and established by Franz Kneissl in 1861. Kneissl was accredited with the invention of “big foot” skis.-External links:...
racquet, changed later for Adidas racquet. Since 2010, he began using Bosworth
Bosworth
Bosworth may refer to:*The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field, an important battle during the Wars of the Roses in 15th century England*Bosworth, a board game*Baron Bosworth, former title for the Duke of Berwick- Places :Places in Leicestershire, UK...
racquet.
Tennis career
Lendl first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1978, he won the boys' singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player.Lendl made an almost immediate impact on the game after turning professional. After reaching his first top-level singles final in 1979, he won seven singles titles in 1980, including three tournament wins in three consecutive weeks on three different surfaces. The success continued in 1981 as he won 10 titles including his first season ending Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
tour title defeating Vitas Gerulaitis
Vitas Gerulaitis
Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was a Lithuanian–American professional tennis player. He is known for winning the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Gerulaitis won the tournament held in December, while Roscoe Tanner won the earlier January tournament...
in five sets.
In 1982, he won in total 15 of the 23 singles tournaments he entered and had a 44-match winning streak.
He competed on the separate World Championship Tennis
World Championship Tennis
World Championship Tennis was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990...
(WCT) tour where he won all 10 WCT tournaments he entered, including winning his first WCT Finals
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
where he defeated John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in straight sets. He met McEnroe again in the Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
final and won in straight sets to claim his second season ending championship of that particular tour.
In an era when tournament prize money was rising sharply due to the competition between 2 circuits (Grand Prix and WCT), Lendl's haul of titles quickly made him the highest-earning tennis player of all time.
He won another seven tournaments in 1983.
But Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
titles eluded Lendl in the early years of his career. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in 1981, where he lost in five sets to Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
. His second came at the US Open in 1982, where he was defeated by Jimmy Connors. In 1983, he was the runner-up at both the Australian Open and the US Open.
Lendl's first Grand Slam title came at the 1984 French Open
1984 French Open
The 1984 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Paris, France the event was part of the 1984 Volvo Grand Prix and 1984 Virginia Slims World Championship Series. The tournament was held from May 26 to June 10, 1984....
, where he defeated John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in a long final to claim what was arguably his best victory. Down two sets to love and later trailing 4–2 in the fourth set, Lendl battled back to claim the title 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. McEnroe gained a measure of revenge by beating Lendl in straight sets in both finals of the US Open 1984 and Volvo Masters
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
1984 (played in January 1985).
Lendl lost in the final of the 1985 French Open
1985 French Open
The 1985 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Paris, France the event was part of the 1985 Nabisco Grand Prix and 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series. The tournament was held from May 27 through June 9, 1985....
to Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
. He then faced McEnroe again in the final of the US Open, and this time it was Lendl who emerged victorious in a straight sets win. It was the first of three consecutive US Open titles for Lendl and part of a run of eight consecutive US Open finals. He reached the WCT Finals
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
for the second and last time defeating Tim Mayotte
Tim Mayotte
Timothy "Tim" Mayotte is a former professional tennis player from the United States.- Career :...
in three sets. Success continued when he also took the Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
title for the third time defeating Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
in straight sets.
In 1986 and 1987 he added wins in the French Open to his U.S Open victories including the season ending 1986 and 1987 Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
championship titles, Where he defeated Boris Becker (86) in straight sets and Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
(87) in three sets. This took him to his fifth and last Grand Prix year end tour title.
During each of the years from 1985 through 1987, Lendl's match winning percentage was greater than 90%. This record was equalled by Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in 2006. Lendl, however, remains the only male tennis player with at least 90% match wins in five different years (1982 was the first, 1989 the last). From the 1985 US Open through the 1988 Australian Open, Lendl reached ten consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals—a record that was broken by Federer at the 2006 US Open.
1989 was another very strong year for Lendl. He started the year by capturing his first Australian Open title with a straight sets final victory over Miloslav Mečíř
Miloslav Mecír
Miloslav Mečíř is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games where he represented Czechoslovakia and played in two Grand Slam singles finals...
and went on to claim 10 titles out of 17 tournaments he entered. Lendl successfully defended his Australian Open title in 1990.
The only Grand Slam singles title Lendl never managed to win was Wimbledon. After reaching the semifinals in 1983 and 1984, he reached the final there twice, losing in straight sets to Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
in 1986 and Pat Cash
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart "Pat" Cash is a retired Australian professional tennis player who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987.-Early career:...
in 1987. In the years that followed, Lendl put in intensive efforts to train and hone his game on grass courts. But despite reaching the Wimbledon semifinals again in 1988, 1989 and 1990, he never again reached the final.
Lendl was part of the team that won Czechoslovakia's only Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
title in 1980. He was the driving force behind the country's team in the first half of the 1980s but stopped playing in the event after he moved to the United States in 1986 because, in the eyes of communist Czechoslovakia's Tennis Association, he was an "illegal defector" from their country.
Lendl was also part of the Czechoslovakian team that won the World Team Cup
World Team Cup
The World Team Cup is the international team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals . The tournament has been contested annually since 1978 and is generally considered to be second most prestigious men's team competition in tennis after the Davis Cup.Every year, the eight nations...
in 1981 and was runner-up in 1984 and 1985.
Lendl's success in the game was due in large part to his highly meticulous and intensive training and physical conditioning regime, his scientific approach to preparing for and playing the game, and a strong desire to put in whatever it took to be successful. It is believed that a contributing factor to his run of eight successive US Open finals and long record of success at that tournament was that he hired the same workers who laid the hardcourt
Hardcourt
Hardcourt or hard court describes a form of surface or floor on which a sport is played. It may refer to an indoor court made from a wood, or more specifically hardwood such as maple, as in basketball or indoor soccer. Alternatively, it may refer to outdoor materials such as asphalt, shale, or clay...
surfaces at Flushing Meadows each year to install an exact copy in the grounds of his home in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
Lendl announced his retirement from professional tennis on December 21, 1994, due to chronic back pain. Although he didn't play any official match following his defeat in the 2nd round of the US Open in 1994, Lendl's final decision to retire came only three and a half months later.
Lendl won a total of 94 career singles titles listed by the ATP (plus 49 other non-ATP tournaments, thus making a total of 144 singles titles) and 6 doubles titles, and his career prize money of U.S. $21,262,417 was a record at the time. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
.
After finishing his tennis career, Lendl took up golf, earning a handicap of 0 and organizing a charity competition in 2004 called the "Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament".
Lendl's professional attitude, modern playing style, scientific training methods, and unprecedented long-term success have had a considerable impact on today's tennis world. A typical Lendl quote is: "If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can."'
Ivan Lendl's return to tennis was announced on February 2, 2010 at a press conference announcing the Caesars Tennis Classic exhibition match scheduled for April 10, 2010 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Lendl will be playing his rival from the late 1980s, Mats Wilander, in a one set match. This will be Lendl's first tournament since his 1994 retirement. Venus Williams will host the tournament and additional matches will include US men's #1 Andy Roddick versus the recently retired Marat Safin.
On February 28, 2011, Lendl returned to the court in an exhibition with McEnroe at Madison Square Garden. It was planned to be a one-set, first-to-eight event. However, McEnroe, leading 6–3, injured his ankle and had to retire from the match.
Singles performance timeline
| Name | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | SR | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slams | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
2R | F | 4R | SF | NH | SF | SF | W | W | F | QF | 1R | 4R | 2 / 12 | 48–10 | |||||
| French Open | 1R | 4R | 3R | F | 4R | QF | W | F | W | W | QF | 4R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3 / 15 | 53–12 | |||
| Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
1R | 3R | 1R | SF | SF | 4R | F | F | SF | SF | SF | 3R | 4R | 2R | 0 / 14 | 48–14 | ||||
| US Open | 2R | QF | 4R | F | F | F | W | W | W | F | F | QF | SF | QF | 1R | 2R | 3 / 16 | 73–13 | ||
| Win–Loss | 0–1 | 4–3 | 9–4 | 9–3 | 9–2 | 20–4 | 20–3 | 20–3 | 20–1 | 24–2 | 20–4 | 21–3 | 16–2 | 13–3 | 12–4 | 1–4 | 4–3 | 8 / 57 | 222–49 | |
| Year-End Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The Masters Tennis Masters Cup The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings.... |
F 1980 Volvo Masters – Singles Björn Borg won in the final 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 against Ivan Lendl.-Finals:-Group A: Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering... |
W 1981 Volvo Masters – Singles Björn Borg was the defending champion, but did not participate. Ivan Lendl won in the final 6–7, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 6–4 against Vitas Gerulaitis.-Finals:-Group A:... |
W 1982 Volvo Masters – Singles Ivan Lendl won in the final 6–4, 6–4, 6– 2 against John McEnroe.-Finals:-References:*... |
F 1983 Volvo Masters – Singles John McEnroe won in the final 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 against Ivan Lendl.-Finals:-References:*... |
F 1984 Volvo Masters – Singles John McEnroe won in the final 7–5, 6–0, 6–4 against Ivan Lendl.-Finals:-References:*... |
W 1985 Nabisco Masters – Singles John McEnroe the defending champion of the Masters title lost in the first round to Brad Gilbert. The runner up from the 1984 championship, Ivan Lendl, went one better as he defeated Boris Becker to claim the title for a third time with a straight sets victory.... |
W 1986 Nabisco Masters – Singles Ivan Lendl won in the final 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 against Boris Becker.-Finals:-Fred Perry Group: Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5)... |
W 1987 Nabisco Masters – Singles Ivan Lendl was the defending champion, and regained his title by defeating Mats Wilander 6–2, 6–2, 6–3 in the final.-Finals:-Group A: Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won,... |
F 1988 Nabisco Masters – Singles Boris Becker defeated defending champion Ivan Lendl 5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6 in the final.-Finals:-Group A: Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets... |
SF 1989 Nabisco Masters – Singles Boris Becker was the defending champion but lost in the final 4–6, 7–6, 6–3, 6–1 against Stefan Edberg.-Finals:-Rod Laver Group:... |
SF | SF | 5 / 12 | 39–10 | ||||||
| WCT Finals WCT Finals The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody... |
W 1982 World Championship Tennis Finals - Singles John McEnroe was the defending champion but lost in the final 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 to Ivan Lendl.-Seeds:A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.-Draw:... |
F 1983 World Championship Tennis Finals - Singles Ivan Lendl was the defending champion but lost in the final 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6 to John McEnroe.-Seeds:A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.... |
W 1985 Buick WCT Finals - Singles John McEnroe was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Joakim Nyström.Ivan Lendl won in the final 7–6, 6–4, 6–1 against Tim Mayotte.-Seeds:... |
2 / 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Records Grand Slam/Other
- These records include only results in the Open EraOpen eraOpen era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
of tennis. - Combined year end championships are: WCT FinalsWCT FinalsThe WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
, ATP World Tour FinalsGrand Slam/Other |Years |Record accomplished |Player tied Australian Open 1989–91 3 consecutive singles finals Mats Wilander Mats WilanderMats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...Australian Open 1989–90 2 consecutive singles titles Ken Rosewall Ken RosewallKenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam...
, Guillermo VilasGuillermo VilasGuillermo Apolinario Vilas is a retired and former World No. 2 professional tennis player from Argentina. He was the second Latin-American to win a Grand Slam tournament.-Career:...
Johan KriekJohan KriekJohan Kriek is a South African American professional male tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. Kriek has won two Australian Opens and has reached the semi-finals at the French...
, Mats Wilander
Stefan EdbergStefan EdbergStefan Bengt Edberg is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Sweden. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He also won one season ending championship title the Masters Grand Prix...
, Jim CourierJim CourierJames Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open...
Andre AgassiAndre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
, Roger FedererFrench Open 1984–87 4 consecutive singles finals Björn Borg Björn BorgBjörn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
Roger Federer
Rafael NadalRafael NadalRafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...US Open 1982–89 8 consecutive singles finals Stands alone US Open 1982–89 8 finals overall Pete Sampras Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....US Open 1985–87 win/loss (sets) overall 95.5% (63/3) Stands alone US Open 1985–87 win/loss (sets) single season 3 years consecutive 95.5% (21/1) Stands alone Grand Slam Tournaments Grand Slam (tennis)The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...1981–86 Runner-up at all four Roger Federer Grand Slam Tournaments 1981–91 11 consecutive years reaching at least one final Pete Sampras Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....Combined year end championships WCT WCT FinalsThe WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
GP1980–88 12 finals overall John McEnroe John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...Grand Prix Tour Finals 1980–88 9 consecutive finals Stands alone Grand Prix Tour Finals 1980–88 9 finals overall Stands alone Grand Prix Tour Finals 1980–91 12 semi finals overall Stands alone Grand Prix Tour Finals 1985 Won championship without losing a set John McEnroe Grand Prix Tour 1980–89 22 titles Championship Series Grand Prix Tennis Championship Series 1970-1989The Championship Series of nine tennis tournaments, formed part of the Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis tours, and were held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia...Stands alone Grand Prix Tour 1980–89 31 finals overall Championship Series Stands alone Grand Prix Tour 1981–83 66 match winning streak indoors Stands alone Grand Prix Tour 1981–83 18 consecutive finals Stands alone Grand Prix Tour 1981–82 8 consecutive titles John McEnroe Grand Prix Tour 1982 9 carpet court titles (single year) Stands alone Grand Prix & ATP Tour 1983–93 5 wins single tournament Tokyo ATP Tokyo IndoorThe Tokyo Indoor was a men's tennis tournament played in Tokyo, Japan. It was one of the most prestigious in terms of prize money available. The event was played as part of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour from 1978 to 1989 and part of the Grand Prix Championship Series, the precursors to the Masters...Stands alone Grand Prix Tour 1980–89 6 wins single tournament Canadian Open Stands alone Grand Prix & ATP Tour 1980–93 14 consecutive years winning at least 1 title Stands alone Grand Prix & ATP Tour 1983–93 career match win percentage (hard courts) 82.59% (477/394) Stands alone Grand Prix Tour 1982–89 5 years consecutive match win percentage 90% (419/36) Stands alone No 1 Ranking 1985–87 3 consecutive years Roger Federer
Jimmy Connors
John McEnroe
Pete SamprasNo 1 Ranking calender year 1985 52 consecutive weeks Roger Federer
Jimmy Connors
Lleyton HewittLleyton HewittLleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
Pete SamprasNo 1 Ranking 1984–85 1st player to reclaim 1 year after losing Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal - ITF World ChampionTennis world champions named by the International Tennis FederationSince 1978, the International Tennis Federation has designated a "World Champion" each year based on performances throughout the year, including Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP World Tour Finals, the Davis Cup, and weekly tour events.-Men's singles:...
(1985–1987, 1990). - ATPAssociation of Tennis ProfessionalsThe Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
Player of The YearATP AwardsThis is a list of all the awards given by the ATP World Tour to players of particular distinction during a given season. The 2011 awards were announced on November 19.-Player of the Year:-Doubles Team of the Year:-Most Improved Player:...
(1985–1987). - ATP Most Improved Player (1981).
- List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players
Recognition
- Tennis magazineTENNIS MagazineTennis Magazine is an American sports magazine owned by the Miller Publishing Group, LLC. It is a monthly magazine which covers news from the world of tennis.-History:...
named him as one of the ten greatest tennis players since 1966, calling him "the game's greatest overachiever" and emphasizing his importance in the game's history. In his book Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis, Bud CollinsBud Collins-External links:*** 2001 interview with Collins*...
included Lendl in his list of the 21 greatest men's tennis players for the period from 1946 through 1992. - In July 1986 DPR Korea issued a postage stampPostage stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
depicting Ivan Lendl in play.
See also
- An account of Lendl's dramatic exit from the 1989 French Open
- Tennis male players statisticsTennis male players statistics-Professional tennis before the start of the open era:Before the start of the open era in 1968, the professional circuit was much less popular than the traditional amateur circuit. For example, Wimbledon in 1957 was a success despite its being an amateur-only tournament and exclusion of Pancho...
- World number one male tennis player rankings