Ivan Lendl - USA 
| Birth Date:
| 3/7/1960 |
Age:
| 52 |
| Birth Place:
| Ostrava, Czechoslovakia |
Residence:
| Goshen, CT |
| Height:
| 6'2" (188 cm) |
Weight:
| 175 lbs (79 kg) |
| Year Turned Pro:
| 1978 (34 years on tour) |
Plays:
| Right-handed |
| Official Website:
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Twitter:
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A former world-ranked No. 1, Czechoslovakian-born Ivan Lendl was one of the most dominating players of the 1980s who spent 270 weeks at the top of the polls and won eight Grand Slam singles titles among his 94 ATP crowns. Lendl turned pro at age 18 in 1978, playing limited tournaments in Europe and falling in the first round of the French Open.
He left Europe in 1979 and played in the Fed Cup for Czechoslovakia, losing to Bjorn Borg. He reached the fourth round of the French Open. In 1980, he won his first ATP tour event, taking the crown on clay in Houston. He also won at Montreal when Borg retired in the final while leading 6-4, 4-5. Lendl's big breakthrough in the majors came at the US Open, where he blitzed his way to the quarterfinals before falling to John McEnroe, who would long be his nemesis before his career truly took off. Lendl went on to win at Barcelona, Basel, Tokyo and Taipei.
Lendl made his first Grand Slam final in 1981, falling to Borg in five sets at the French Open. He came back to take the titles at Montreal, Madrid, Barcelona, Basel, Vienna, Cologne, Buenos Aires and in the year-end Masters in New York.
In 1982, Lendl won nine of the first 11 tournaments he competed in, then fell in the fourth round of the French Open. He missed Wimbledon, then won three tournaments in the US Open Series. At the Open itself, he defeated McEnroe in the semifinals but lost to Jimmy Connors in the final. he ended the year ranked No. 2 in the world.
In 1983, Lendl finished No. 1 in the world for the first time despite not winning any of the Grand Slam tournaments. He won seven tournaments overall on the year, but fell in the quarterfinals of the French Open, the semifinals at Wimbledon (to McEnroe), the finals of the US Open (to Connors) and the finals of the Australian Open (to Mats Wilander).
In 1984, Lendl broke through for his major title, but slipped back to third in the end-of-year rankings. The triumph came over his biggest rival, McEnroe, in unlikely fashion at the French Open. In the final, McEnroe took the first two sets easily, 6-3, 6-2, but Lendl rallied to win the final three 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 to claim his first Grand Slam. He fell to Connors in the semifinals at Wimbledon and was smoked by McEnroe in the finals of the US Open (6-3, 6-4, 6-1). McEnroe also defeated him in the finals of the year-end Masters.
In 1985, Lendl added another Slam and finished ranked No. 1 again. He lost just six times on the season against 78 wins. He also won 11 tournaments. At one point he won 25 straight matches before losing to Wilander in the finals of the French Open. He ended the year with a 27-match win streak that included his second title at the US Open, defeating Connors in the semifinals and McEnroe in the final.
That streak extended all the way to 54 matches into March of 1986 before Lendl was defeated by Boris Becker in the finals at Chicago. Lendl claimed his second French Open title by defeating Mikael Pernfors in straight sets, but fell in the Wimbledon final to the upstart Becker in straight sets. The loss didn't faze him, as Lendl returned to New York to claim his second straight US Open crown, one of nine total titles on the year.
Two more Grand Slam titles were on the agenda for Lendl in 1987, his third straight year ranked No. 1 in the world at year's end. He won eight titles overall, including his third straight Masters at season's end. He fell in the semifinals of the Australian Open, but defended his crown at Roland Garros, defeating Wilander in four sets. The Wimbledon crown continued to elude him as 11th-ranked Pat Cash shocked him in straight sets in the final. The US Open remained his playground however. He his three contemporaries -- McEnroe, Connors and Wilander -- in succession to claim the crown.
The following season, 1988, marked the first year that Lendl did not win a Grand Slam title since 1983. He fell back to No. 2 in the world at year's end. He only played in 10 tournaments in 1988. He reached the semifinals again in Australia, but was bumped in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros by Jonas Svensson and in the semifinals at Wimbledon by Becker. On the verge of a fourth straight US Open crown, Lendl lost a two sets to one lead against Wilander, falling 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6.
Lendl returned to No. 1 in the world in 1989 and also claimed his first-ever crown at the Australian Open, defeating Miloslav Mecir. He also won at Scottsdale, Key Biscayne, Forest Hills, Hamburg, London, Montreal, Bordeaux, Sydney and Stockholm. He was shocked in the fourth round of the French Open, and eclipsed again by Becker in the semifinals at Wimbledon as well as the finals of the US Open.
Lendl produced his final major title in 1990, defending his crown at the Australian Open when Stefan Edberg was forced to retire with Lendl leading 4-6, 7-6, 5-2. Lendl missed the French Open, fell in the semifinals at Wimbledon to Edberg and in the quarterfinals to a promising new American player, 19-year-old Pete Sampras. In 1991, Lendl finished outside the Top 3 for the first time in 11 years, settling in at No. 5. Becker denied him a third straight Australian Open crown with a victory in the final, after Lendl had upset No. 1 Edberg in the semifinals. Lendl won three tournaments overall.
He dropped to eighth in 1992, his final year in the Top 10, winning only one tournament and failing to advance past the quarterfinals in any of the majors. He fell to the bottom of the Top 20 in 1993 at No. 19, and dropped to 55th overall in 1994, retiring that December.
Career Grand Slam Titles Won
Singles (8): Australian Open (1989, 1990); French Open (1984, 1986, 1987); US Open (1985, 1986, 1987).
Year-End Singles Rankings: 1980: 6th; 1982: 2nd; 1983: 1st; 1984: 3rd; 1985: 1st; 1986: 1st; 1987: 1st; 1988: 2nd; 1989: 1st; 1990: 3rd; 1991: 5th; 1992: 8th: 1993: 19th; 1994: 55th.
Personal
Lendl's parents were both tennis players, with his mother Olga ranked as high as No. 2 in the country. In 1983, Lendl played three exhibition matches in Sun City, a resort in one of Bophuthatswana's bantutstan - territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa. The Czechoslovakian Sports Federation expelled Lendl from the country's Davis Cup and fined him $150,000 for doing so, as well as banning his name and results from the country's media, controlled by its Communist Party. Lendl applied for a green card to the United States in 1987 and became an American citizen in 1992. In 1989 he married Samantha Frankel and the pair have five daughters together, two of whom are members of the University of Florida's golf team.
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