Lendl?

[babar]

Do you guys think Lendl gets overlooked in the conversation on great players? You always here about Connors and Mac, Borg and Ashe, Laver and Rosewall. Lendl just seems to not be on the radar very often.

[Redferrari350]

Come to think of it, I think your right. Lendl isn't appreciated much on this forum. Maybe because he has never won the Wimbledon? or he has a really whiny high pitched voice? who knows. Lendl is my Idol no matter what other ppl think of him.

[Kobble]

All people talked about was Lendl when I was growing up, now I never hear about him in public. He should be in the same sentence with Connors, Mac, Borg, Sampras and others, because he ahead of his time like all great champions. I actually think he was a clearly better player than Connors.

[@wright]

I agree. In the mid-late 80's, Lendl was everywhere, now he really is the champion no one cares about. It blows my mind that he made 8 US Open finals in a row, an incredible feat that is now forgotten.

[joe sch]

Even though Lendl won 8 Slam singles titles, played 19 Slam singles finals, had a 44-match streak, was the year end #1 four years, and was for 157 straight weeks at No. 1 in singles (1985-198, 3 short of Jimmy Connors' Open Era record, most tennis fans did not like or even appreciate Ivan I think this had alot with his attitude. He not just ignored the media and fans but often was rude. It worked for him and you cant argue with success He also was the first champion who really trained intensely and this was at a time when most of his competition like to socialize and party hardy

[babar]

I had the same impression as Joe in that he was one of the first men to really take fitness to a new level which translated into better play on the court. In regards to his attitude, time tends to forget those things for most players, but with Lendl, it seems to still linger. I mean was he any more rude than Connors or Mac? Is it his ethnic background or maybe the sawdust?

[Tim Tiger Henman]

I must admit Lendl was the guy I loved to hate growing up. The similarities to Ivan Drago from Rocky III abound. He was the Eastern block baddie. The base-liner.

But looking back I would say that Lendl has more claim than any other player to be called the father of the modern game. The article below says much the same thing:

http://www.1stserve.com/legacy.htm

[Camilio Pascual]

I think Lendl is appreciated here. True, he's not brought up as often, but when we talk about GOAT, he has backers and we laud his powerful groundstrokes.

[Tim Tiger Henman]

Talking about his groundstrokes, has anyone seen his footage at tennisone? Great backhand - even today I wouldn't hesitate to take lendl as my model for this shot.

[tennisozzy_new]

I don't think Lendl's backhand would be as good today. His continental grip would suffer against heavy topspin on clay. There are more extreme surface specialists now than in the 80s.

[tetsuo10]

Lendl isn't much of an ambassador for the game. He's in the middle of the lineup of all-time greats with Agassi, McEnroe, and Connors, but those three continue to promote the game. If Sampras only won 8 GS's, no one on this board would be discussing him because he's a boring fart.

[Brian Purdie]

Tetsuo is correct in his regard to promoting the game on a national level, but I beleive he still hits with alot of the locals and promotes the game in his area of Greenwich, CT. This is fitting, however. Lendl was a character, but not the type that average Americans could appreciate. He wouldn't be a great speaker for the game, but I do think he could be a great speaker for political conservatism (But that's another topic).

Lendl was really the gun people didn't want to face in a tournament for many many years. That's a real threat to any player outside the top five. Generally, when Lendl lost, it wasn't to a #34 ranked player, it was to a top 5. If you loved McEnroe, Becker, or Edberg you never wanted to hear that they were playing Lendl in the next round because that was the likely end to their tournament.

I can only compare Lendl to Nalbandian these days. He's got the same stigma of chopping down people and going very deep into tournaments on a consistant basis.

[SC in MA]

I read an article on Lendl in the Boston Globe about a month ago. The article was mainly about how much he's into golf and how he was trying to qualify for the golf US Open. He directed his kids toward golf, so they play golf and not tennis. I believe he said he last played tennis some number of months before, but he got bored with it after 30 minutes.

[@wright]

Thought about it some more, it has to be the sawdust, as babar said.

[borisboris]

When you have no personality - it doesn't matter how many weeks your @ #1 or GS titles you've stacked up or consecutive US Open Finals you made, you fade away like a sunset. How many will remember Todd Martin in 5 yrs - 10 yrs or Albert Costa? Only those tennis nuts - which is all that matters anyway. Why keep your name perpetuated. Borg only tries it for financial reasons. Edberg lives quietly - no talk show etc. McEnroe & soon Agassi are 2 that for there desire and tennis industry - keep there public mug going atleast 1-2 times a month. Lendl = I envey him - he's a foreign born player who doesn't need the lights camera action of the suedo American marketing engine.

[Chanchai]

But he is endorsed by Snoop Dogg

As the perhaps most marketable G-one said: "Lendl was the truth."

:P