Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl ( born March 7, 1960 in Ostrava, then Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic ) is a former Czechoslovak, today American tennis player.
Lendl, who took the U.S. citizenship on 7 July 1992, won in his career total of eight Grand Slam tournaments in singles and reached the previous record number of 19 finals in tournaments this category. With four years ( 1985-87, 1989), which he finished at the top of the tennis world rankings and a total of 270 weeks on the top position, Lendl was one of the best tennis players of the 1980s.
In his 17 year career he won a total of 94 tennis tournaments in the individual competition, including three times the French Open and U.S. Open, and twice the Australian Open and six titles in doubles. Only the success at Wimbledon, where he twice reached the final, Lendl was denied. In addition, he won five times, the Masters and the 1980 Davis Cup with the team of Czechoslovakia. In its balance sheet are 1071 won games against 239 defeats ( at Grand Slam tournaments 222:49 ). The end of 2011 he became the coach of the British Andy Murray, who was able to achieve great success under his guidance, the last Wimbledon victory in 2013.
Tennis career
Already in youth Lendl was an outstanding player, he won the 1978 Junior Single title at the French Open and Wimbledon and was listed as the No. 1 junior world rankings. In the same year he turned professional and achieved in 1979, his first singles final in the men's. Lendl won seven tournaments in 1980, where he managed to win three tournaments on different types of flooring in three consecutive weeks. In 1981, he won ten tournaments and reached it the first Grand Slam final of his career at the French Open, he lost in five sets against the Swede Bjorn Borg. Lendl was also a member of the Czechoslovakian team that won the 1981 World Team Cup and the 1984 and 1985 runner-up was. In 1982, he finished 15 of 23 tournaments in which he competed, as the winner, but he again lost a Grand Slam final, this time against Jimmy Connors at the U.S. Open. He had a winning streak of 44 games. It also has the season ending tournament, the WCT Finals for the first time won. He beat John McEnroe without dropping a set. He met McEnroe again in the final of the Masters Grand Prix and won without dropping a set. During this time, the prize money increased because of competition between two tennis tournaments ( Grand Prix and WCT), Lendl became the best-paid player of all time.
In the following season, Lendl held constant among the best players in the world, but was beaten in two other finals at Grand Slam tournaments. In 1983, he won seven tournaments. Finally, in the 1984 season followed the first victory for one of the most important tournaments in the world. At the French Open in Paris Lendl turned a 0-2 sentence residue in the final against John McEnroe and won his first major tournament victory.
The 1985 season was one of the best in Lendls career. Among his 11 singles titles was also the first victory at the U.S. Open, where he had failed three times in a row in the final. He reached the WCT Finals for the second and last time, where he defeated Tim Mayotte in three sets. Also in the next two years should Lendl win the U.S. Open, and two more victories came at the French Open and two runners-up in Wimbledon. This Lendl finished the year 1985-87 respectively as the best player of world tennis rankings. From 1985 to 1987 he again won the Masters Grand Prix. After two years with three Grand Slam finals reached Lendl in the 1988 season only at the U.S. Open, the final, where his series of 27 consecutive wins ended in a tight game over five sets against Mats Wilander. 1989 saw the first triumph at the Australian Open. In Paris, he lost in the second round in a match against the legendary plagued by cramps and standing on the edge of a task Michael Chang 6-4, 6-4, 3:6, 3:6, 3:6. At the tournament in Wimbledon Lendl came into this season as in the following years of his career no longer the semi-final addition.
1990 ended the series of eight finals in a row at the U.S. Open, Lendl was at the Australian Open the eighth and final Grand Slam title of his career win and at the end of the tenth year in a row, a season in the top three players in the world end. At the Australian Open 1991 Lendl finally reached the last Grand Slam final of his career, he lost the match against the German Boris Becker in four sets. The last three years of career Lendls were marked by persistent back problems and relatively early defeats in the major tournaments. Finally, the Americans Lendl ended his career in 1994 at the age of 34 years and thereafter devoted himself increasingly to the sport. Since 31 December 2011, Lendl has been working as coach of the tennis pro Andy Murray. On 28 February 2011 he played with John McEnroe a friendly match at Madison Square Garden. In Prague, Lendl played in May 2012 at the Sparta Prague Open tennis tournament for the first time since the 1970s.
Lendl in 2001 was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Success as a coach
Andy Murray was trained from 2011 to 2014 by Ivan Lendl. At the time Murray won the Olympic Games in London in 2012, the U.S. Open in New York in the same year and the prestigious tournament of Wimbledon Championships 2013.
Private life
Lendl comes from a tennis loving family. His mother, Olga Lendlová, was one of the most successful tennis players of Czechoslovakia and was once in their time the second best player in the country. His father, Jiri Lendl was a good player, who later became the chairman of the Czechoslovak Tennis Federation was. In 1978 Ivan Lendl tennis pro.
Since 1981, Lendl lived in the United States. 1984 moved Lendl finally in the United States. In 1987 he applied for and got a green card, 1992, he was the U.S. citizenship. In 1989, he married Samantha Frankel. He now lives with his wife and his five daughters in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Nowadays Lendl playing golf, he also controls the sporting development of his daughters, in particular their golf skills. Two of his daughters, Marika and Isabelle, are members of the Women's golf team at the University of Florida. Caroline is a member of the woman rowing team at the University of Alabama. His daughter Nikola finds pleasure in the eventing.
Ivan Lendl played in three friendlies in Sun City, South Africa in the apartheid era Bantustan of Bophuthatswana in the 1980s.
Lendl collects works by the artist Alfons Mucha.
Statistics and Records
- Lendl is the player with the most finals at Grand Slam tournaments (19 ) to Roger Federer.
- With a total of 94 tournament successes in individual Lendl took second place in the rankings of the Open Era behind Jimmy Connors (109).
- Lendl is the only player in the Open Era to have won three tournaments on different surfaces in three consecutive weeks.
- Ivan Lendl and Bill Tilden are the only player in tennis history that could reach eight U.S. Open finals in a row.
- Lendl holds the record of 66 consecutive wins at indoor tournaments ( 1981-1983).
- Together with Pete Sampras, he is in 2nd place for most wins ( 5) when the season final Masters (now Tennis Masters Cup ), only Roger Federer has won more victories (6). He is the only player this tournament success achieved three times in a row together Ilie Năstase with.
- He holds the record for most finals (9 ) at the Tennis Masters Cup. He has denied all participation uninterrupted 1980-1988.
- With 21,262,417 earned dollars Lendl is number 6 of the prize money ranking.
- A total of 270 weeks Lendl was performed on the peak position of the tennis world rankings. This was a record of 1990 after he surpassed Jimmy Connors ' 268 weeks, until 1999, when Pete Sampras was able to exceed this mark. Currently, this is the 3rd place in the time list behind Roger Federer (302) and Pete Sampras (286 ). 3rd place he occupied with uninterrupted 157 number-one weeks, behind Roger Federer with 237 and 160 with Jimmy Connors
- Lendl is (next to Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Roger Federer ) one of only five players who could finish at least four times a season as number one in the world rankings.
- With 1071 professional victories Lendl is also performed in these statistics on # 2 on the all-time standings. More victories scored only Jimmy Connors ( 1222 ).
- According to Guillermo Vilas (46 ) Lendl At 44 Match successes in series ( in 1981 and '82 ) at No. 2 this rating.
Grand Slam success
Wins ( 8)
Final Loss (11 )
Career Record
AF = knockout stages; VF = quarter-finals; HF = semis; F = final; S = tournament victory; Digits = 1st - 3rd Round of the tournament;