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Player Of The 1980’s? Surely It Must Be The Great Ivan Lendl!
Published: March 26, 2010
When discussing the old greats, we often mention Laver, Borg and McEnroe. But Lendl is somewhat forgotten. He was not charismatic enough. For someone carrying the nickname Ivan the Terrible, he was way too robotic.
McEnroe even once said, "He's hurt the popularity of the sport so much. Do you like a robot being No. 1?"
He wasn't the most popular, outspoken, or engaging player. How could he be, coming from Czechoslovakia, where they could claim his passport any time they wanted? That halted his relations with the media and vice versa with the fans. Ivan, as the person he is and was, probably did not care too much. He minded his own business, trained harder, and won more.
In my mind, he was by far and away the player of the 80's. Wait a minute, doesn't that title belong to McEnroe?
Hardly.
After his great '84 year, in which he compiled an 82-3 match record has yet to be toppled. He made it to his last Slam final in the' 85 US Open in which he lost to Lendl. He also competed in the famous '84 final in which Lendl denied McEnroe his eluding French title after McEnroe was up two sets to love, a break in the third, and 4-2 in the fourth.
Lendl, on the other hand, was a dominating force throughout possibly the most competitive decades in men's tennis. How many weeks at number one? 272.
That is more than five years of that decade, second to only Sampras and Federer. How many consecutive weeks in the top five? 588, from 1980-92. Do you need other stats to be impressed?
How about 8 US Open finals in a row (82-89, winning three), or how about 9 consecutive year-end championship finals (80-89, winning a record 5)? Or ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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