Lendl v. Wilander, April 10th 2010

NicoMK

NicoMK

Hall of Fame
Hi guys,

Just watched this on youtube. Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ1DkYv2xQA&feature=fvsre3

Very nice to see Lendl playing... with the 'old' shirt lol

I really like the way they introduce the event... with the music behind Lendl's talk, and Lendl talking as if it was a big final or something like that... Very nice!

But I'm sure both will take it VERY seriously. As for Mats, who has always been my favorite player, he had some very good results on the Senior tour recently. No doubt he's training hard for that exhibition.

As Lendl said, none of them will want to loose!

Great to see Lendl's back anyway.

Hope the match will be broadcasted!

Cheers all :)
Nico

EDIT : don't you think Lendl's very fit compared to recent years??
 
Bonjour Nico - Thanks for the link.

Aside from that one creaky looking backhand (about 20 secs in), you're right - Lendl does look fit. And he's still talking a little smack which is good to hear.

Wilander has been playing on the Champions circuit for some time now, so I'd be stunned if Lendl won this thing. I can only hope he has enough fun to get out there and play some more events.

It is Caesar's, which means there will probably be a pay per view option somehow. Online streaming I hope. :)

btw, where are you in France?
 
I wouldn't have known, I hadn't been around the boards in a while, but Lendl is in my top 3 favourite players of all time so I will be thrilled to see him play again after all this time. And yes, he's really tightened up it seems. Marking my calendar. Thank you very much for posting.

http://www.caesarstennisclassic.com/ The official website for Caesar's Tennis Classic.
Marat Safin will also be there I noted.
 
Last edited:
WillAlwaysLoveYouTennis said:
I wouldn't have known, I hadn't been around the boards in a while, but Lendl is in my top 3 favourite players of all time so I will be thrilled to see him play again after all this time. And yes, he's really tightened up it seems. Marking my calendar. Thank you very much for posting.

http://www.caesarstennisclassic.com/ The official website for Caesar's Tennis Classic.
Marat Safin will also be there I noted.
Click to expand...

Yep! I starded a thread a few days ago with that news. Lendl is one of my all time favorites too, along with Sampras, Federer, McEnroe, Graf, and a few others ;) - http://www.1stserve.com/legacy.asp

I am too very happy to have him back on court, even if it is for a few balls :D
I hope there will be some kind of streaming too...
 
Steve F. said:
btw, where are you in France?
Click to expand...

Hi mate... Saw that you are from Paris... Good to see some Frenchies here...

I'm somewhere where people's favorite colour is... GREEN.... despite not being myself a football fanatic ;)

Cheers ;)
 
Will this match be on TV or online somewhere? I looked on the Caesar site and I didn't see any info.

I miss watching Lendl and Wilander play.
 
NicoMK said:
Hi guys,

Just watched this on youtube. Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ1DkYv2xQA&feature=fvsre3

Very nice to see Lendl playing... with the 'old' shirt lol

I really like the way they introduce the event... with the music behind Lendl's talk, and Lendl talking as if it was a big final or something like that... Very nice!

But I'm sure both will take it VERY seriously. As for Mats, who has always been my favorite player, he had some very good results on the Senior tour recently. No doubt he's training hard for that exhibition.


As Lendl said, none of them will want to loose!

Great to see Lendl's back anyway.

Hope the match will be broadcasted!

Cheers all :)
Nico

EDIT : don't you think Lendl's very fit compared to recent years??
Click to expand...

Does anyone have an actual video of the match?
 
If it matters, I have some pics. As for the match, very old school. Long rallies, lots of topspin, slice, the whole 9 yards. Not a lot of power, so not my cup of tea, but I appreciate their playing styles.
 
Caesars Tennis Classic

I attended this event in Atlantic City, NJ USA!:)

It was a hit for tennis, fans and Atlantic City!

You Tube has a few short clips of Roddick and Sampras playing!

Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Pete Sampras all playing in one night...and all introduced and interviewed by Venus Williams (and Justin Gimelstob)...

Atlantic City, NJ USA hosted it's first major tennis event in 14 years drawing 7300+ fans, spectators and tennis-lovers from the greater New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia area. And former 8-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl played his first competitive public match in 16 years at the Caesars Tennis Classic last night, Saturday, April 10, 2010...

Despite the fact that one of the stars James Blake had to withdraw before the event due to a knee injury, the evening was a fun and memorable one for all with some exciting tennis from 3 generations of champions for 3 generations of fans...

Four one set exhibition matches with no-ad scoring...final results:
1. Wilander wins v. Lendl (6-3)
2. Safin wins v. Sampras (6-4)
3. Roddick wins v. Sampras (6-4)
4. Roddick wins v. Safin (6-4)

My takes on the night: Lendl played better than his score, he moved well, looked slimmer and his chronic bad back did not seem to hinder him. His serve and power baseline game (and even some volleying) could be seen, yet he needed to improve his consistency and timing. Wilander simply showed more consistency and less errors.

Safin looked strong with some solid serves and passing shots. Sampras continues to serve at a very high level, but perhaps is just a little slower in court movement. Roddick, just coming off his win at Sony Ericsson-Miami, seemed to really enjoy himself, having fun on the court and knocking off some real power serves and showing his "new" game play of variety, including slice backhands and drop shots.

All in all, the exhibition matches gave the players a chance to enjoy some competition in a relaxed setting and gave 3 generations of fans some fun and interesting tennis.

Caesars announced that the event will return in 2011 and Sampras said he would like to play again...

For more information and photos, check out:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/article_0b786e2e-9d1a-57da-9ec5-ab0e9804b20f.html

For even more, go to my profile for my free website blog's URL.

Thanks, guys!

PS This is my first post.
 
It's nice to see Pete having fun and showing some semblence of exuberence regarding tennis again. I hope its the same for Lendl as well.

REALLY wanna see some video!
 
Gary-Visaman said:
I attended this event in Atlantic City, NJ USA!:)
.....
Thanks, guys!

PS This is my first post.
Click to expand...

Nice post Gary! Welcome to TW, good work. Glad you had a good time for the rest of us - nice to hear that Lendl still has his form, despite the shape he's in.

I think it'd be great to see Lendl and Sampras square off at some point, their games are a natural evolution from one to the other.
 
Whoa - just read the match report from your link - nice stuff, even for a hit and giggle. Sampras aces Roddick... with his own racquet...!:D
 
Did Lendl change his eye color and hair. It seems different from what I remember him from the '80's of having brown eyes and brown hair. Also hopefully we can start seeing him on the seniors tour.
 
Lendl Playing Footage

Those of you looking to see the game of Mats and Ivan playing at the Caesars event, check out the documentary Ivan Lendl: Return of a Champion on the Tennis Channel. It'll air on the 4th of May at 9 pm. There's full coverage of both the match, and Ivan's career. Them company I work for is producing it, it's a great show, and an interesting look into Ivan's life.
 
hedgehogfrenzy said:
Those of you looking to see the game of Mats and Ivan playing at the Caesars event, check out the documentary Ivan Lendl: Return of a Champion on the Tennis Channel. It'll air on the 4th of May at 9 pm. There's full coverage of both the match, and Ivan's career. Them company I work for is producing it, it's a great show, and an interesting look into Ivan's life.
Click to expand...
Thanx hedgehogfrenzy. That's great news!
What about those of us foreigners that don't have the tennis channel? Any plans to release the documentary on the web? ;)
 
Check out this link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/columns/story?columnist=ford_bonnie_d&id=5069915

Lendl is asked how he felt hitting with the new racquet's, and his reply: "it's not the racquets...it's more the strings." Interesting.

My main racquet at the moment is a Mizuno Ivan Lendl (I love the feel of the older graphites that seem to have disappeared with today's frames). When I first got the Mizuno, it was strung. Tension seemed OK but hitting with was kind of blah. Put in a fresh set of 18g poly/nylon hybrid...and WOW, BIG difference. I can bang from the base line and still retain the touch needed at the net.

Hmmm...I've long suspected that Fed's racquets were just PS 6.0 with a paint job. Lendl's comment comment serves as more fuel for my suspicion. :???:
 
hedgehogfrenzy said:
Those of you looking to see the game of Mats and Ivan playing at the Caesars event, check out the documentary Ivan Lendl: Return of a Champion on the Tennis Channel. It'll air on the 4th of May at 9 pm. There's full coverage of both the match, and Ivan's career. Them company I work for is producing it, it's a great show, and an interesting look into Ivan's life.
Click to expand...

Soooo...
Anyone saw that? Was it any good? I still can't find a single video on the April 10th exhibition... :(
 
They're showing it now on Tennis Channel. It's on quite often.

Question: If one were to give Ivan and Mats a USTA rating today, what would it be? Is that 5.0 tennis?
 
rod99 said:
i'd say Mats was at 6.0 tennis. Lendl was high 5.5.[/QUOTE

In all fairness to Lendl, he looked very tentative out there. Lendl looked like he was content to get his timing back, keep the ball in play and give Wilander few angles. I think he just needs more time, specifically more match play, in order to get comfortable hitting the ball hard (and with effective topspin) like he used to. He was basically just hitting slice backhands, rarely going for anything on that wing. Lendl always had the patience to work the point to his advantage, then pull the trigger without hesitation. He is not there yet.
Click to expand...
 
It would be great if they tried to revive his other rivalary with Mcenroe. They had some pretty nice argumentative matches from the '80's. I would defintely pay to see that exhibition.
 
Just to let you know guys that the documentary has been uploaded in great quality at http://t3nnis.tv/

You have to register but it's free. Don't forget your ratio !

Watched it. Great to see them both :)

Cheers ;-)
 
Thanks for posting the link. I always enjoyed watching Wilander play and it was amazing to see that his fitness and game looked almost identical after 25 years. Always seemed like a nice guy, too - warm smile.
 
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