Lendl fainted from heat exhaustion in the lockeroom after winning RG 1984

An April 1986 article on the nr 1 champion.


"A new grimness settled on Lendl's jaws and back he came, powering forehands through the 85° haze, reaping McEnroe's mistakes, winning in five sets and then vomiting inches from McEnroe's shoes as he waited for the trophy. He reeled into the locker room and nearly lost consciousness from heat prostration. Vyborny rushed in and found him lying there, deathly white, ice packs on his head, unable to recognize friends.

"It was horrible," Vyborny recalls. "I leaned close to him and he whispered, 'Take my mother back to the hotel—I have to find a different exit.' Can you believe it? The ******* had just won his first major tournament ever, he was almost dying and he was still planning how to avoid people."

"

I think, it was after a AO semifinal in 1990 or so, that Ivan was out on his feet due to the extreme heat. Some oberservers said, that he was laying in his locker like a dead man. He was wearing a French legion cap, to protect his long neck against the sun. For the 1984 it is interesting to note, that Mac had a sun stroke, following some reports. But while Ivan was completely out for two weeks, Mac went on and won the Queens tournament on grass in the same week.

There must have been a pretty sizeable difference between the distance ran by Lendl in that match vs. the distance ran by Mac. It was a very hot day, and Mac himself while visibly tired as the match progressed didn't need IV afterwards like Lendl did.

A couple of days later, Lendl unsurprisingly lost his 1st round match at Queen's (which had a 64 player draw size) against Leif Shiras, who went on reach the final.

2 years later when he won his 2nd RG title, he was in much better shape and had very impressive fitness levels. He could still struggle in brutal heat such as against Muster at the 1989 AO even though he won that semi-final and then the final. Both Muster and him commented about how extreme the conditions were that day and how difficult it was to move or breathe.

The 1984 RG final remains one of my favourite ever major finals, with plenty of high quality tennis and plenty of excitement and drama.

terribleIVAN said:

An April 1986 article on the nr 1 champion.

How Ivan Lendl ascended to the top of men's tennis

Protected by trained dogs and propelled by an iron will, Ivan Lendl has ascended to the top of men's tennis

vault.si.com

"A new grimness settled on Lendl's jaws and back he came, powering forehands through the 85° haze, reaping McEnroe's mistakes, winning in five sets and then vomiting inches from McEnroe's shoes as he waited for the trophy. He reeled into the locker room and nearly lost consciousness from heat prostration. Vyborny rushed in and found him lying there, deathly white, ice packs on his head, unable to recognize friends.

"It was horrible," Vyborny recalls. "I leaned close to him and he whispered, 'Take my mother back to the hotel—I have to find a different exit.' Can you believe it? The ******* had just won his first major tournament ever, he was almost dying and he was still planning how to avoid people."

"

Click to expand...

Gluten or mono?

WRONG. Ivan Lendl did not throw up on court after the French Open 1984 final.

The article quotes George Vyborny who completely invented it (and later sued Lendl, see article below). Lendl never vomited "inches from McEnroe's shoes." I have the entire post-match events recorded where the camera never leaves Lendl's side. There was no throwing up by anyone and it's never been mentioned by anyone since it's an invention. Lendl himself repudiated the article after the 1986 Stratton Mtn final against Becker (again, I have this on VHS) and he said, "none of it happened. I was tired, just watch the tape. And John not crowing about this till now? [Laughs].... we'd never hear the end of it."

https://apnews.com/article/3342401c0cd3e06fe7d1b0cf787c6e47

There's 7 minutes of Lendl prior to this moment as well... no physical issues shown in those 7 minutes either.

terribleIVAN said:

"A new grimness settled on Lendl's jaws and back he came, powering forehands through the 85° haze, reaping McEnroe's mistakes, winning in five sets and then vomiting inches from McEnroe's shoes as he waited for the trophy. "

Click to expand...

Wouldn't it have been great if he had vomited ON McEnroe's shoes?

Some people tend to exaggerate for a few reasons; one is that they are so excited, another that they just seek attention. I guess that fake news have been around for ages.

Never heard this vomiting story either....maybe later in the locker room. It was brutally hot, even here in the US at the time. Lendl did seem to struggle a lot w/heat conditions and stamina back then. Watch the '83 USO final and you will see him essentially run out of gas....guy was just spent...and against someone who was much older. Some felt he tired out in the '84 W semi as well, which was another very hot day. Regardless, whatever he did later on, seemed to work for him since he went from shaky to rock solid at the major events.

Interesting article....I seem to recall reading it many moons ago. Pretty much sums of the trajectory of his career and inability to effectively manage his own PR. Guys like Mac and Connors could be jerks most of the time, but they got the fact that you needed to work the crowd and the press to optimize your public image. So, they became viewed as 'brats' or 'bad boys' whereas Lendl was just plainly deemed unlikable and mean. With dogs that will bite you. Not exactly a winning look.

I'm with those who believe that this whole story is crap.

Lendl didn't look deathly ill when he won. He looked excited. I suppose it's possible he suddenly collapsed when the adrenaline wore off, but you have to take these stories with a grain of salt.

One of the my favorite Lendl moments came shortly after he won. A reporter comes up to Ivan as he chugs a drink and asks a sort of non-question:

"Congratulations, it's the first time you've won the Grand Slam here in Paris, your first Grand Slam victory."

Lendl's response? "That's correct."

Classic Lendl.

Lendl made that Haas diet after the RG 1984 experience and his stamna and physical condition got much better, although he was never the steadiest natural performer. Wilander had more natural stamina, and in long matches between these two, Ivan wilted several times. I remember a story after the famous Chang RG match of 1989. All people saw Chang cramping in the last set, but nobody thought about Lendls physical situation. A fellow player told later, that Lendl was flat out after the match, similar to the Muster semi at AO under extreme heat. A guy with underrated stamina is certainly Mac. For someone, who never trained, to play and win for 9 hours within 24 hours against the calibre of Connors and Borg back to back, what he did at USO 1980, is not too bad.

In the late 80s, Lendl's improved fitness meant that he could outlast and out-grind Wilander from the baseline, as we saw in their RG and US Open finals in 1987 which had a series of long, gruelling rallies and with Lendl coming out on top more often than not (plus he had the ability to suddenly amp things up after while). Wilander had to shorten the points, approach the net a lot etc. to beat him on the big stage, as we saw in their 1988 US Open final when he came to the net around 130 times. Their 1987 and 1988 US Open finals lasted a similar length of time, despite the fact that their 1988 final had one more set. In their 1985 RG final which Lendl went into as the clear favourite, Wilander came to the net quite a lot for a clay court match and had quite a lot of success there, which Lendl admitted had caught him off guard. Their 4 set 1987 RG final lasted over an hour longer than their 4 set 1985 RG final. That was why IMO their RG and US Open finals that Wilander won were considerably more enjoyable than their finals at those tournaments that Lendl won.

Even though he came up short in his Wimbledon finals, I still think that it was amazing that in 1986 and 1987 Lendl could grind his way to titles at RG (during his R4 match against Nystrom in 1987 one of their rallies exceeded 100 shots), then a few weeks later serve and volley (on 1st and 2nd serves) his way to Wimbledon finals. It basically felt like watching two different sports.

Gizo said:

Even though he came up short in his Wimbledon finals, I still think that it was amazing that in 1986 and 1987 Lendl could grind his way to titles at RG (during his R4 match against Nystrom in 1987 one of their rallies exceeded 100 shots), then a few weeks later serve and volley (on 1st and 2nd serves) his way to Wimbledon finals. It basically felt like watching two different sports.

Click to expand...

Isn't that effectively what Borg did, with even greater success?

Phoenix1983 said:

Isn't that effectively what Borg did, with even greater success?

Click to expand...

And then turning into a big/hard hitter at the Masters. That final against Lendl was a masterclass when it comes to applying the appropriate tactics. Truly an incredibly versatile player.

Phoenix1983 said:

Isn't that effectively what Borg did, with even greater success?

Click to expand...

Well Borg serve volleyed on 1st serves at Wimbledon, and typically stayed back on 2nd serves occasionally coming in as a surprise tactic. He serve volleyed on 100% (or at least very close to it) of 1st and 2nd serves as a 17 year old against Roger Taylor in Wimbledon 1973 when the UK and tennis-world was swept by Borg-mania, but I think sensibly decided as his game developed that staying back more on 2nd serves was a better bet.

The gold standard was probably when he crushed Vilas for the loss of 5 games in the 1978 RG final grindathon, and then crushed Connors for the loss of 7 games in the Wimbledon final 4 weeks later serve volleying on 100% of 1st serves and playing aggressively.

But still I thought that Lendl's adaption was hugely impressive. Beating Wilander in their grindfest in the 1987 RG final, and then beating Edberg in their Wimbledon semi-final playing as a pure serve volleyer on 1st and 2nd serves 4 weeks later, I think was special. He probably still would have won those RG titles playing more aggressively (commentators were surprised that he didn't), while I personally think that he should have stayed back more on 2nd serves at Wimbledon. But that was the biggest transformation in playing styles between RG and Wimbledon that I've ever seen. Plus during that period he was insanely dominant indoors generally playing as an aggressively baseliner and coming to the net a reasonable number of times.

Agree with many aspects. Lendl was very timid vs. Wilander at RG in 1987, camped at the backhand corner of the baseline too much, and engaged in endless rallies and was happy to close the match out in a fourth set tiebreaker, when he looked already tired. Problem with Wilander on clay was, that he could run all day (with white socks) and didn't sweat, while Lendl had heavier feet (with clay red socks) and looked like just coming out of a hot sauna. On grass, he probably should have stayed at the baseline after second serve. His problem was the backhand volley. Against Becker or Cash he butchered almost all medium difficult backhand volleys after backhand cross returns. His other problem was, that he had to play in his prime a string of natural crass courters like Becker, Edberg and Cash, while prime Borg met an interim between dominant grass courters like Newcombe and McEnroe.

Why is Lendl being criticized for the way he beat Wilander in 1987? Lendl won.

Heat exhaustion is no joke. I won a tourney in 126 degrees (Fahrenheit) heat. Swear I almost died. My body cramped up from head to toe & got it two days in a row. Could barely move without cramping, everywhere.

CyBorg said:

Why is Lendl being criticized for the way he beat Wilander in 1987? Lendl won.

Click to expand...

Right? A win is a win!

From my perspective I wasn't criticising Lendl, I was just pointing out that I think he still would have won his 1987 RG title had he played more aggressively (as did numerous commentators). The final did seem to be pretty much on his racket, with long rallies typically finished off with either a Lendl winner, unforced error, successful net approach etc. In fact in each of the 4 sets, the player that came to the net more won it. The first set was around 1 hour and 20 minutes alone.

Sports Illustrated and other outlets were pretty scathing about the 1987 RG final, and I did think it was pretty hard to watch, in comparison to the Graf-Navratilova women's final for example which I thought was far more enjoyable. Wilander himself said that he intended to play much more aggressively than he ended up doing, but got roped into engaging in all those long rallies, 'moon-balling' etc. And with Lendl's greater power including his lethal forehand, and ability to suddenly 'up the ante' plus the fact that his fitness was much stronger than it had been even a few years earlier, it's not surprising that it wasn't a successful strategy for Wilander. Ahead of the 1985 RG final, Lendl was the pretty big favourite. Ahead of the 1987 RG final, quite a few people (including Becker) tipped Wilander to win, and said that he would much rather face Lendl in the final than his arch-nemesis Mecir

As I said before, IMO the Lendl-Wilander finals at RG and the USO that Wilander won were considerably more entertaining to watch than the ones that Lendl one, because Wilander in-particular played much more aggressively.

I just think that when sometimes people say that "X should play more aggressively," there's an assumption that it's just a matter of flipping a switch. It's not always that easy and can depend on multiple factors like getting a feel for the opponent's rhythm and the weather conditions.

I watched a match between Lendl and Wilander live at the WTC Düsseldorf, i think in 1985 or so, when Lendl beat Wilander on clay routinely 3 and 4 or 3 and 3. He did that by staying close to the baseline, going for winners and bringing his two big weapons into play, in big serve and his belting forehand, and with it higher leverage, better length and greater penetration. Wilander was a ultra fine clay courter, with fast and steady legs, al lot of topspin, a great backhand, precise passing shots and topspin lobs even under pressure. He was clever too, and later on could change tactics by coming in more (due to his underrated doubles play). But he lacked the big weapons on serve and forehand. Lendl had, following the ATP, a 15-7 hth with Wilander, even a lead on clay, but in the encounters at RG i think it was a draw, 2-2. To me, at RG, Lendl went too much into survival contests, with endless static topspin battles and high net clearances, instead of dictating things with his dominating forehand.

CyBorg said:

I just think that when sometimes people say that "X should play more aggressively," there's an assumption that it's just a matter of flipping a switch. It's not always that easy and can depend on multiple factors like getting a feel for the opponent's rhythm and the weather conditions.

Click to expand...

And they also could lose more points, more games, than they actually did by being cautious. We don't know what we don't know!

urban said:

I watched a match between Lendl and Wilander live at the WTC Düsseldorf, i think in 1985 or so, when Lendl beat Wilander on clay routinely 3 and 4 or 3 and 3. He did that by staying close to the baseline, going for winners and bringing his two big weapons into play, in big serve and his belting forehand, and with it higher leverage, better length and greater penetration. Wilander was a ultra fine clay courter, with fast and steady legs, al lot of topspin, a great backhand, precise passing shots and topspin lobs even under pressure. He was clever too, and later on could change tactics by coming in more (due to his underrated doubles play). But he lacked the big weapons on serve and forehand. Lendl had, following the ATP, a 15-7 hth with Wilander, even a lead on clay, but in the encounters at RG i think it was a draw, 2-2. To me, at RG, Lendl went too much into survival contests, with endless static topspin battles and high net clearances, instead of dictating things with his dominating forehand.

Click to expand...

Yes I agree that Lendl could often play more pro-actively in other clay court events compared to at RG, and often vs. the same opponents as well. In 1987 for example, I remember that he played much more aggressively vs. Mecir in the German Open final than he did against the same opponent a few in their RG semi-final. He won both matches in straight sets and won both titles so it was job done, but I think it showed that he could easily play more aggressively and win on clay if he wanted to. His 1988 Italian Open final vs. Perez-Roldan was also a hugely entertaining match. I never used the word 'should' in my posts, and merely pointed out that he was so strong in 1986 and 1987 that I think he 'would' have won those titles RG regardless had he played more proactively (which he was perfectly capable of doing) and not gotten bogged down in so many of those seemingly endless and passive rallies. He made the biggest transformation in playing styles between RG and Wimbledon in the space of a month that I've ever seen from any player, which was hugely impressive, but I think his transformation didn't need to be 'quite' so extreme.

His 1985 clay court season was interesting. He won the title at Monte-Carlo beating Wilander in the final, then won the title at Forest Hills on har-tru very comfortably with a one sided win over McEnroe in the final (sandwiched in-between those tournaments he won the WCT Finals on carpet - the scheduling back then was certainly far less conducive to peaking at majors !), and beat both Wilander (easily) and McEnroe again in Dusseldorf. He stormed through to the final in Paris without dropping a set and only being taken to one tiebreaker, and was the huge favourite going into the final against Wilander. As well as Wilander's aggressive play catching him off-guard, I think it was clear that Lendl was very passive and nervous in the final. It further goes to highlight that his 1985 US Open win was far more significant and far more of a turning point for him than his 1984 RG win (plus winning the US Open had always been his biggest career goal). McEnroe publicly criticised Wilander's commitment to tennis at Dusseldorf, but Wilander responded effectively with another major and another very impressive RG title win.

The most one sided match between Lendl and Wilander at RG was their 1984 semi-final, with Lendl recording a comfortable straight sets win (there were 18 breaks of serve and 12 holds in 30 games). In that match there were plenty of long, punishing rallies as you'd expect, but Lendl's forehand was lethal that day and definitely the decisive factor.

BeatlesFan said:

WRONG. Ivan Lendl did not throw up on court after the French Open 1984 final.

The article quotes George Vyborny who completely invented it (and later sued Lendl, see article below). Lendl never vomited "inches from McEnroe's shoes." I have the entire post-match events recorded where the camera never leaves Lendl's side. There was no throwing up by anyone and it's never been mentioned by anyone since it's an invention. Lendl himself repudiated the article after the 1986 Stratton Mtn final against Becker (again, I have this on VHS) and he said, "none of it happened. I was tired, just watch the tape. And John not crowing about this till now? [Laughs].... we'd never hear the end of it."

https://apnews.com/article/3342401c0cd3e06fe7d1b0cf787c6e47

Click to expand...

It was at the trophy presentation Lendl heaves and vomits. You can't hear him but McEnroe I think asks if he is ok. TBH what difference does it make.

Johnny Mac was hoping he don't wake up

Gizo said:

In the late 80s, Lendl's improved fitness meant that he could outlast and out-grind Wilander from the baseline, as we saw in their RG and US Open finals in 1987 which had a series of long, gruelling rallies and with Lendl coming out on top more often than not (plus he had the ability to suddenly amp things up after while). Wilander had to shorten the points, approach the net a lot etc. to beat him on the big stage, as we saw in their 1988 US Open final when he came to the net around 130 times. Their 1987 and 1988 US Open finals lasted a similar length of time, despite the fact that their 1988 final had one more set. In their 1985 RG final which Lendl went into as the clear favourite, Wilander came to the net quite a lot for a clay court match and had quite a lot of success there, which Lendl admitted had caught him off guard. Their 4 set 1987 RG final lasted over an hour longer than their 4 set 1985 RG final. That was why IMO their RG and US Open finals that Wilander won were considerably more enjoyable than their finals at those tournaments that Lendl won.

Even though he came up short in his Wimbledon finals, I still think that it was amazing that in 1986 and 1987 Lendl could grind his way to titles at RG (during his R4 match against Nystrom in 1987 one of their rallies exceeded 100 shots), then a few weeks later serve and volley (on 1st and 2nd serves) his way to Wimbledon finals. It basically felt like watching two different sports.

Click to expand...

Lendl would have a Wimbledon trophy if he played on this slowed down grass courts at All England.

Rumor has it his heart stopped beating for a full 20 minutes as he laid unconscious in the locker room after that match.

Gizo said:

In their 1985 RG final which Lendl went into as the clear favourite, Wilander came to the net quite a lot for a clay court match and had quite a lot of success there, which Lendl admitted had caught him off guard.

Click to expand...

I haven't seen the match since but recall Lendl looking unusually dishevelled and unshaven, coming to net too often on a prayer. I remember the commentators speculating as to whether Lendl was unwell or had a physical problem. It was a strange match.

Mainad said:

Wouldn't it have been great if he had vomited ON McEnroe's shoes?

Click to expand...

Or IN them before the match.

terribleIVAN said:

He reeled into the locker room and nearly lost consciousness from heat prostration. Vyborny rushed in and found him lying there, deathly white, ice packs on his head, unable to recognize friends.

Click to expand...

This is the mindset of a Guerilla Warrior. Compare and contrast to the Beta Male video gamer part-time tennis player Kyrgios withdrawing from a Wimbledon match due to a mild tummy strain.

Rubens said:

Rumor has it his heart stopped beating for a full 20 minutes as he laid unconscious in the locker room after that match.

Click to expand...

I very much doubt that is true.

The vomit story referenced previously here is a little overblown. If you want to see it, go to the 4:08:16 mark of this video:


In the minutes after Lendl wins, he is interviewed by French television while sitting in his courtside chair. During that time, he chugs three bottles of what looks like some sort of juice or soda. Then, when it's time to present the trophies, he wretches after he stands up (right as McEnroe is walking by). However, I don't see him actually spew anything, much less barf on Mac's Nikes.

That said, when Bud Collins is talking at the 4:11:54 mark, he mentions that Lendl was vomiting after he left the court following the presentation ceremony. Then later at the 4:15:40 mark, Collins is outside the locker room, where he states the Lendl was cramping, vomiting, ill, and nauseous, and that he's hoping to get an interview. Bud finally gets to talk with Lendl at the 4:16:52 mark and the opening question and Ivan's answer is a classic.

Collins: "Ivan Lendl has come down. He's barefoot, but rather happy I would say. Ivan, there is one question I no longer can ask you - why can't you win the big one?"

Lendl: "Well, I'm glad Bud, you can't give me hard time anymore. That's why I tried so hard today."

Lendl's sense of humor was so deadpan and sarcastic, a lot of people never picked up on it. His personality was very underrated and I loved his interviews. That's why I compare Lendl to Medvedev in the sense of humor category.

Back in 1985, I remember a Tennis Magazine article that talked about how Ivan had made a bunch of changes to become the dominant champion during those mid-80s years. One of the big things was his diet. Apparently, when he came to the United States, he was eating tons of fast food - Big Macs and Coke were his favorites as I recall. However, he got a nutritionist (which was revolutionary for athletes back then) and started eating healthy, which changed his energy level. He then paired that with a cardio program that focused on aerobics and strength training, particularly with his legs. Not many tennis players were spending time in the gym in those days, so I credit him and Navratilova for being the trend setters that introduced sports science to the game.

Gizo said:

In the late 80s, Lendl's improved fitness meant that he could outlast and out-grind Wilander from the baseline, as we saw in their RG and US Open finals in 1987 which had a series of long, gruelling rallies and with Lendl coming out on top more often than not (plus he had the ability to suddenly amp things up after while). Wilander had to shorten the points, approach the net a lot etc. to beat him on the big stage, as we saw in their 1988 US Open final when he came to the net around 130 times. Their 1987 and 1988 US Open finals lasted a similar length of time, despite the fact that their 1988 final had one more set. In their 1985 RG final which Lendl went into as the clear favourite, Wilander came to the net quite a lot for a clay court match and had quite a lot of success there, which Lendl admitted had caught him off guard. Their 4 set 1987 RG final lasted over an hour longer than their 4 set 1985 RG final. That was why IMO their RG and US Open finals that Wilander won were considerably more enjoyable than their finals at those tournaments that Lendl won.

Even though he came up short in his Wimbledon finals, I still think that it was amazing that in 1986 and 1987 Lendl could grind his way to titles at RG (during his R4 match against Nystrom in 1987 one of their rallies exceeded 100 shots), then a few weeks later serve and volley (on 1st and 2nd serves) his way to Wimbledon finals. It basically felt like watching two different sports.

Click to expand...

Lendl had alot more firepower from the baseline than Wilander. I suspect the reason Wilander went to net alot in the 88 US Open final was to prevent Lendl bullying him off the ground. I don't think Wilander went to net because he was worried about Lendl beating him in the grinding stamina stakes. Credit to Wilander: a great tactician.

Jack the Hack said:

The vomit story referenced previously here is a little overblown. If you want to see it, go to the 4:08:16 mark of this video:

In the minutes after Lendl wins, he is interviewed by French television while sitting in his courtside chair. During that time, he chugs three bottles of what looks like some sort of juice or soda. Then, when it's time to present the trophies, he wretches after he stands up (right as McEnroe is walking by). However, I don't see him actually spew anything, much less barf on Mac's Nikes.

That said, when Bud Collins is talking at the 4:11:54 mark, he mentions that Lendl was vomiting after he left the court following the presentation ceremony. Then later at the 4:15:40 mark, Collins is outside the locker room, where he states the Lendl was cramping, vomiting, ill, and nauseous, and that he's hoping to get an interview. Bud finally gets to talk with Lendl at the 4:16:52 mark and the opening question and Ivan's answer is a classic.

Collins: "Ivan Lendl has come down. He's barefoot, but rather happy I would say. Ivan, there is one question I no longer can ask you - why can't you win the big one?"

Lendl: "Well, I'm glad Bud, you can't give me hard time anymore. That's why I tried so hard today."

Lendl's sense of humor was so deadpan and sarcastic, a lot of people never picked up on it. His personality was very underrated and I loved his interviews. That's why I compare Lendl to Medvedev in the sense of humor category.

Back in 1985, I remember a Tennis Magazine article that talked about how Ivan had made a bunch of changes to become the dominant champion during those mid-80s years. One of the big things was his diet. Apparently, when he came to the United States, he was eating tons of fast food - Big Macs and Coke were his favorites as I recall. However, he got a nutritionist (which was revolutionary for athletes back then) and started eating healthy, which changed his energy level. He then paired that with a cardio program that focused on aerobics and strength training, particularly with his legs. Not many tennis players were spending time in the gym in those days, so I credit him and Navratilova for being the trend setters that introduced sports science to the game.

Click to expand...

Lendl today is brilliant in interviews, so intelligent and astute and chatty. In his playing days he smiled less and seemed to say little and be aloof in interviews. He didn't seem to care at all about PR and didn't try at all to win people over. I think he was so tunnel visioned on performing on court he paid no attention to publicity.

Both players exhausted in the Paris heat.
But yet no ball boys constantly fetching towels after every point. How did the players ever manage?
.

Raul_SJ said:

Both players exhausted in the Paris heat.
But yet no ball boys constantly fetching towels after every point. How did the players ever manage?
.

Click to expand...

Back then the towel circus didn't exist. The ball boys gave it to the players but not between each point like today.
That said, you're right to point this out.

Raul_SJ said:

But yet no ball boys constantly fetching towels after every point. How did the players ever manage?
.

Click to expand...

Blame Greg Rusedski for that catching on in the late 1990s.

Mainad said:

Wouldn't it have been great if he had vomited ON McEnroe's shoes?

Click to expand...

Or if Lendls shoes had vomited on Mcenroe..?
That would have been outrageous. tremendously shocking..

Gizo said:

There must have been a pretty sizeable difference between the distance ran by Lendl in that match vs. the distance ran by Mac. It was a very hot day, and Mac himself while visibly tired as the match progressed didn't need IV afterwards like Lendl did.

A couple of days later, Lendl unsurprisingly lost his 1st round match at Queen's (which had a 64 player draw size) against Leif Shiras, who went on reach the final.

2 years later when he won his 2nd RG title, he was in much better shape and had very impressive fitness levels. He could still struggle in brutal heat such as against Muster at the 1989 AO even though he won that semi-final and then the final. Both Muster and him commented about how extreme the conditions were that day and how difficult it was to move or breathe.

The 1984 RG final remains one of my favourite ever major finals, with plenty of high quality tennis and plenty of excitement and drama.

Click to expand...

I watched that match "live" on delayed broadcast. The Musketeers all showed up that day and sat through the match.