Interview with Lendl

[Marius_Hancu]

Great to see he kept that humour ...
---------------------------
An Interview with Court of Champions Inductee Ivan Lendl
Sunday, September 11, 2005

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2005-09-11/200509111126472548436.html

 

[killer]

Thanks for the link Marius. What a great interview- Ivan sounds so genuine, nice, funny too. glad to see he was honoured this year at the USO. He was my favourite player when I was growing up.

 

[Type40]

Very interesting article, especially like what he has toy about Tony Roche, and was also very surprised to hear Lendl say that he thinks the players of today are more complete players than those of his era. Very surprised indeed.

 

[unkast]

Didn't pick up a racquet for 9 years.. Crazy.

 

[breakfast_of_champions]

kind of intersesting seeing him today. man has he changed.

 

[Deuce]

Thank you for pointing that out, Marius.

I feel so sorry for the kids of today. Not only is the on-court product more boring and one dimensional than it was two decades ago, but the players off the court, as well, are more boring and one dimensional.

Kids today read post match interviews, and they see things like

"Like, you know..."

"I only played at 5%..."

"You know, like..."

Back then, things were different - more enjoyable - and this interview with Lendl is a fine reminder of those good ol' days.

 

[Ravi]

Well Lendl wasn't a whole more interesting than that in his playing days either. Now he sounds great, judging by that interview.

 

[AAAA]

You see, I think the point ‑‑ two points I should really make is when I'm saying that, that this tournament(USO) is probably the best record among the four Grand Slams I have had, the reason I'm saying that is because in England, getting to finals twice and semis on five other occasions, it was much harder for me than winning here(USO). And so, you know, yes, I would have liked to won. No, I don't lose any sleep over it. And, yes, I'm very proud of the record.

As I've said many times before, it's much more difficult to win on your least best surface(s) than your best. When you don't have technical superiority on a surface, successes on that surface say alot more about one's mental toughness and desire than winning on a surface where you are technically superior in practically all of the key areas. This is commonly overlooked when comparing great players.

 

[Tchocky]

Did they broadcast the Court of Champions ceremony? CBS didn't go to tennis until 1:30 p.m. PST due to the football game. I only caught a glimpse of Lendl.

 

[Colpo]

Lendl is still a great fencer with the media, but now that he's a bit older, he's less "angry young man" and more "legend."

How much would you pay, for charity, to hit with Ivan for an hour? I wish somebody had asked that, what the charity was, etc. It clearly must've meant alot to Ivan for him to play the first time in a decade.

The induction was shown only in highlights by CBS. Ivan didn't look half as bad as Mac's earlier comments suggested.

 

[Rabbit]

I never warmed to Lendl's game or on court personality when he was playing. But he apparently is a great guy. I enjoyed immensely reading the interview. I also respect the fact that he doesn't whine and complain about today's players versus his era. I also agree with my sidekick.

 

[MonkeyPox]

I wasn't a huge fan of his back in the day, but compared to today's players in interviews he sounds like a complete genius. Of course, he's a grown man and they are mostly young and don't have the life experience, but Lendl sounds to be the most balanced and normal sounding tennis player I've heard interviewed. Not so self centered and insecure. Helps not to be playing now I guess. But I can't imagine just giving up tennis like that. Wow. That part is strange.

 

[Jack the Hack]

Marius,

That was a very enjoyable article... thank you very much for pointing it out.

I always loved Lendl's self-depreciating and sarcastic sense of humor, and it was showcased well in this interview. He was always like that back in the tennis days, but the general public seemed to miss his humor and personality because of his rivalry with McEnroe. (The perception was that Lendl was the big, bad robotic foreigner who unemotionally bashed the ball, while Mac was all "charismatic" on the court and played with flair... and that somehow he had no personality off the court, which was grossly untrue.)

Anyway, I passed the article over to my Mom and sister because we were all Lendl fans back in the day. In reply, my Mom was asking about how good his daughters were at golf... and in researching, I found another great article on the Lendl clan from last summer:

"A Hall of Fame Caddie Daddy"

http://www.usgirlsjunior.org/2004/news/lendl.html

 

[@wright]

I bet NoBadMojo could take him now! Can't believe he hadn't picked up a racquet in 9 years!

 

[Craig Sheppard]

So I grew up watching Lendl dominate in the 80's... I literally thought he was the Terminator. He was crazy good from what I remember, so good he'd just drop the hammer on anyone, not crack a smile, say "thank you for playing, good bye" and go home. Now I see this guy is pretty hilarious and has a great demeanor. What a difference! I really wish he'd be more visible in the tennis world, but I guess he's just not into it. Who knows, 9 years to pick up a racquet, maybe in 10 more he'll be a little more involved. Sounds like a great guy.

 

[35ft6]

Q. How about as far as completeness goes, being able to make shots and doing everything well?

IVAN LENDL: Well, I don't see any glaring weaknesses, let's put it that way.

But to be fair, if you take players from my era to now, the game has changed and the players have many more shots. They use them differently than we did. The speed of the game has changed. Stamina is not as big of a factor as quickness and strength right now because the points are much shorter, whether it is because the boys are bigger and stronger or it is because the balls and racquets; you can argue that for as long as you want.

So there are ‑‑ the players are more complete players now than they were 20 years ago, there's no question about that.

Lendl is the most under-rated, underappreciated player of the open era. It's a dang shame.

 

[NoBadMojo]

actually back in the lendl days he was pretty universally disliked..dour...he would often shun little kids politely asking for autographs by simply saying 'go away'..this i witnessed first hand in person on more than one ocassion...he was the best for a while and his agents tried to project him in a more warm and fuzzy sort of way than his mostly mean personality would indicate....his first name was originally pronounced Ivan as in Ivan the Terrible, but later somehow was pronounced as Evonne to give him a warmer sounding tenor...man could he thump the ball though....when aproaching the practice courts you could tell from nowhere near which court Lendl was practicing on because his resounding crack of racquet and ball was so much louder..that's how much harder he hit the ball than anyone else on tour back then. he took stabs at humour which mostly failed earlier and eventually softened and i guess now the dude finally 'gets it'

 

[jings]

I always thought of him as even less emotional than Borg and even less appreciative of the subtleties and nuances of the game because he just hit the thing so hard, every damn time. Again I didn't so much admire him growing up, more scared of him as he'd beat up all my fav's who's game was more pleasing to the eye. In perspective though he was as integral to the shaping of the modern game as say Borg. BB brought the topspin and then Ivan brought the heat for the first time. You begin to see how much the real greats give to succeed. Sampras hasn't hit since he retired I think, Connors has only just re-surfaced. Lendl doesn't hit for 9 years ... just goes to show.

 

[NoBadMojo]

good one Jings..... think lendl brought the conditioning more than anything along with the heat. his game was less a precursor to the modern game as it was less spinny..was more penetrating. i think Borg was the true precursor to the modern game with the topspin from both wings and the two fister, and to think that was back in the 80's. in a way I think Courier was also a precursor as he had the conditioning but also ran around his backhand alot, rare forays into the net, etc

 

[theprophe]

actually back in the lendl days he was pretty universally disliked..dour...he would often shun little kids politely asking for autographs by simply saying 'go away'..this i witnessed first hand in person on more than one ocassion...he was the best for a while and his agents tried to project him in a more warm and fuzzy sort of way than his mostly mean personality would indicate....his first name was originally pronounced Ivan as in Ivan the Terrible, but later somehow was pronounced as Evonne to give him a warmer sounding tenor...man could he thump the ball though....when aproaching the practice courts you could tell from nowhere near which court Lendl was practicing on because his resounding crack of racquet and ball was so much louder..that's how much harder he hit the ball than anyone else on tour back then. he took stabs at humour which mostly failed earlier and eventually softened and i guess now the dude finally 'gets it'

just to let you know, his name is pronounced evanne in czech, it was just the english pronouncing it the other way

 

[NoBadMojo]

ok thanks....

 

[bcaz]

I grew up in (and frequently visit) Connecticut, where Lendl settled down many years ago. A few thoughts ... he went his entire career, I think, with the crowd never really rooting for him, whoever he played. If it wasn't Conners, or McEnroe, or another American, it was Becker or one of the Swedes ... people called him robotic, and he was a mean competitor and baited the officials in a thick accent when Reagan was stoking the cold war ... He apparently made himself into an excellent golfer after he stopped playing tennis. He also did very well in real estate and/or business and is a very rich man, unlike, say, Becker ... A real treat is the tennis video he did with McEnroe in the 80s -- it's fascinating, watching that perfect forehand (Lendl), juxtaposed with the intuitive, unorthodox artistry of JMac. Not to mention, Ivan was a rock, and Johnny didn't have a muscle in his body.

 

[jukka1970]

Thanks for the find, was certainly interesting to hear how Lendl is doing. Am surprised he hasn't picked up the racquet in 9 years, that's breaking from the sport, geez. But he seems to be doing well and so is the family, so that's good to hear.

 

[AndrewD]

Thanks for that one Marius.
It's nice that there's finally an opportunity for people to see how genuinely nice and funny -although that humour can be pretty biting (blame Rochey for a lot of that)- Lendl is. Take away the focus he demanded of himself when he played and I really don't think there was a more engaging or entertaining guy on tour. The greatest pleasure I got ,in calling lines at the Aus Open, was getting to meet Ivan and deal with him both as a player and a person. Just a completely decent bloke which is the highest compliment an Aussie can give.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

The greatest pleasure I got ,in calling lines at the Aus Open, was getting to meet Ivan and deal with him both as a player and a person.

Lucky you

 

[gscone]

I actually had the honor to hit and meet with Lendl. He's definetly a very kind and humble guy. Glad to see he's doing well.

 

[JRoss]

He always had a sense of humor; perhaps his delivery/accent (and sportswriters' prejudices) obscured it; and he always worked and tried to improve.

 

[Ravi]

Lendl changed tennis forever. The first power baseliner ever. Well Connors before him had of course been a most agressive baseliner but in a weirdly idiosyncratic manner, hitting everything flat using that T2000. But Lendl using the new graphite tech became the first player to hit outright winners on the run from the baseline using big topspin. Of course now 84% of tour players hit like this but Lendl was an anomaly before this got adapted as a new, 3rd style of tennis (as opposed to the S&V of McEnroe & the Aussies before him or the classic baseliner style of Borg)...

 

[laurie]

Ravi, as Tony Blair puts it; Its the third way.

 

[killer]

I actually got to ballboy at the Player's International (as it was called back then) in Toronto during the mid-late 80s. Being a baseline ballboy for Ivan was one of my fondest memories of contacts with big-name players. When I'd bring him his towel, he actually took the moment to say 'thanks' every time. I thought i was going to explode!

 

[Ravi]

Didn't Lendl get defaulted one year from that event?

 

[killer]

A good question Ravi...i certainly can't recall.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

I bet NoBadMojo could take him now! Can't believe he hadn't picked up a racquet in 9 years!

Nah. Maybe Alexandra Stephenson, but not the once sour 'n dour Lendl (even though Lendl's blown-up like a dee-eye-see-kay)

(smirk)

 

[Kevin Patrick]

I don't think Lendl has ever been defaulted.

It's funny that he mentioned the bad calls at the '91 US Open. I have some of his match with Ivanisevic on tape, Goran hit a serve that was a foot wide & it was called good. You could even see it on the replay (& tv angles weren't as good as today)
Lendl was understandably peeved. Commentators couldn't believe how bad the call was.

 

[NoBadMojo]

aye Dedans' do you have the capacity to recall important data as well as minutia???? you're a funny dude as is the @wright..you guys crack me up...frosty beverages on me if you're ever in my hood.

 

[NoBadMojo]

Remember the us open when Lendl demanded the Goodyear Blimp be moved because he could see it when he threw up his ball toss or some such thing? everyone got a good laugh out of that one

 

[guitarplayer]

I am surprised you are unaware: Lendl has not picked up and will never pick up a tennis racquet again. He was given a very large and I mean very large insurance settlement 10 years ago in a lawsuit he won claiming he can not play tennis because of a specific back injury due to a car accident I believe. Then he started playing golf and the insurance company went after him in court. His lawyers were able to convince the jury that tennis uses different back muscles than golf. His settlement was upheld.

Investigators watch him all the time.

 

[Deuce]

I actually got to ballboy at the Player's International (as it was called back then) in Toronto during the mid-late 80s. Being a baseline ballboy for Ivan was one of my fondest memories of contacts with big-name players. When I'd bring him his towel, he actually took the moment to say 'thanks' every time. I thought i was going to explode!

A very good measure a player's decency is in how he/she treats the ball kids. This is good to know of Lendl. Too bad too few people on this side of the Atlantic knew that he was a decent human being. Thank the American media for that.

 

[Haka Boy]

Funny how you should comment Deuce that he wasn’t known as a decent human being because of the media. But it wasn’t just the American media at fault.

My father was of his era and living in Australia during his reign said that he wasn’t ever really able to portray his human side particularly in regards to any sense of humor. He felt that this naturally had him offside from the start. He thought this was because of his upbringing in the then Czech republic.

 

[Phil]

I think the American public's impression of Ivan changed for the better when he finally went and got his teeth fixed.

 

[big ted]

off the court he always seemed funny and smart even when he was on david letterman during his prime years, on the court he was all business. when he played agassi in the 88 us open semifinals a small ballgirl tripped and scraped her knee running for a ball and started crying and limped off the court and lendl started complaining he should get 2 serves cuz she took so long and the crowd booed him. i guess that was his business personality

 

[Deuce]

Funny how you should comment Deuce that he wasn’t known as a decent human being because of the media. But it wasn’t just the American media at fault.

My father was of his era and living in Australia during his reign said that he wasn’t ever really able to portray his human side particularly in regards to any sense of humor. He felt that this naturally had him offside from the start. He thought this was because of his upbringing in the then Czech republic.

Interesting.

No doubt growing up in Czechoslovakia (as it was then) did not prepare him well for the bright lights and big cities of the 'outside world'.

I single out the American media in particular firstly because I am most familiar with it, and secondly because the American media no doubt contributed greatly to Lendl's 'image' of being a 'dour and unemotional Commie robot'. This casting of Lendl as the 'enemy' was done primarily to aid the 'image' of the American players of that era, most notably Connors & McEnroe. Of course the talk of the 'Cold War' was fairly ripe at the time, and 'Anti-Communism' was rather rampant in the U.S., which helped cast Lendl as the 'bad guy'.

That said, I never knew how Lendl was portrayed by the media of other countries. Obviously, his rather imperfect English played a role in his 'image', as well.

 

[sandro]

Thanks for the post Marius. Lendl's my favorite of all time, no doubts.
Deuce, media in Italy were no so bad about Lendl. JMac was the bad guy.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Remember the us open when Lendl demanded the Goodyear Blimp be moved because he could see it when he threw up his ball toss or some such thing? everyone got a good laugh out of that one

Actually, it wasn't the Goodyear Blimp. It was Rosie O'Donnell and Carney Wilson who had "squeezed" themselves into Section 50: Rows A, B, C, D and part of Row E in Louis Armstong Stadium--and who were completely obliterated Lendl's sightlines. His comment to the chair ("MOVE DAT GOD-DAMN BLIMP!!") was what gave onlookers the impression that he was referring to the durigable "upstairs" in the sky.

And this was from an usher who said that he had to grease down all the seats in that section prior to their arrival. I'm not kidding.

 

[@wright]

I can't quit laughing. Crap, that's funny. You are such a dee eye see kay!

 

[Rabbit]

Lendl changed tennis forever. The first power baseliner ever. Well Connors before him had of course been a most agressive baseliner but in a weirdly idiosyncratic manner, hitting everything flat using that T2000. But Lendl using the new graphite tech became the first player to hit outright winners on the run from the baseline using big topspin. Of course now 84% of tour players hit like this but Lendl was an anomaly before this got adapted as a new, 3rd style of tennis (as opposed to the S&V of McEnroe & the Aussies before him or the classic baseliner style of Borg)...

Actually, there was a player who predated Lendl with the power baseline game. His name was Borg. I remember vividly the announcers being amazed that he was able to hit winners from the baseline with his opponent at the other baseline and....with a wood racket. I remember the match because of the post match interview. Borg was playing Harold Solomon in the finals of the Alan King in Vegas. Borg won the first set 6-1 and then started trying to see just how hard he could hit the ball. Solomon was like a June bug on a string, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't do anything to counter Borg's power.

The quote I referenced didn't come from Borg, it came from Solomon. After the match, he was asked by Bud Collins why he didn't employ a drop shot. Collins reasoned aloud that a drop shot would bring Borg in and disrupt his rhythm. Solomon's reply was great "I don't have a drop shot".

I recently saw Borg's last match against McEnroe in the US Open finals of 81. He hit the ball every bit as hard as anyone. Likewise, if you watch Connors 74 and 76 finals at the Open, I don't think it's possible to hit the ball much harder than he did when he was young. Connors' game changed drastically as he got older, much like Agassi (and every other pro and hack in the game). He quit knocking the cover off the ball so much and realized that it's errors, the other guys' errors, that actually counts. You must hit a ball just well enough to force your opponent into an error.

Lendl actually had an interesting strategy for his matches as detailed by Brad Gilbert in his book Winning Ugly. Gilbert said that the first time he played Lendl, he wasn't overly impressed with Lendl's power. He had heard much from the other pros about Lendl's ability to hit the ball with alot of power and he just didn't see it. If I remember correctly, Gilbert said that at 4 all in the first set, Lendl made an amazing transformation. The pace of his balls was incredible. Gilbert was basically shell shocked. It seems that Roche and Lendl developed a strategy whereby Lendl went at about half power until he had served 4 games and then he broke out into a gallop.

 

[NoBadMojo]

agree w. Rabbit <mostly> and would additionally like to add that Lendl did not hit with big topspin as indicated by Ravi...he hit a flatter trajectory heavy spinny booming ball. Borg was the precursor to the modern game IMO but not strictly because of his power , but more because of his less flat higher safety margin trajectory combined w. the power and his two handed backhand

 

[Ravi]

All right, Lendl was spinny but not topspinny. I stand corrected.