Ivan Lendl believes players from different eras should not be compared – Tennis News
Former world number one, Ivan Lendl, has made a point that comparison cannot be made between tennis players from different eras as they have most of the conditions uncommon between them.
The former Czechoslovakia national thinks that all the eras had different top players like in the 80s there were Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and himself, then there were legends before that as well but they can’t be
compared with each other.
Lendl said in a recent interview, "I think there are many eras in the game and there have been many good players at the same time. You can look at the early 80s with (Jimmy) Connors and McEnroe, (Bjorn) Bjorg and myself, you can
go back in to the 60s and 70s and there are many good players there. I don't think we should be comparing one era to another because you just can't compare them."
Many tennis experts say that the best tennis player of the 2000s, Roger Federer, is the greatest of all-time. They believe that the 17-time Grand Slam champion is better than the best players of all the different eras. Some of
them confidently say that Federer is even better than Rod Laver, who was the undisputed King in the entire history of tennis before the Swiss star achieved this much. Laver is the only male player to win calendar Grand Slam i.e. grabbing all the four Majors
in a single season.
However, Lendl’s point is that a tennis player should be compared with the rivals of his own era only. The current American citizen’s argument is valid because the level of competition changes from time to time and equipment technology
has improved a lot as well. Modern tennis players are using high quality rackets and strings, which allow them to hit the ball at a faster speed than their predecessors.
Lendl added, “All you have to do is look at the sports against time - swimming, athletics etc - and compare the times from today compared to 30 years ago.”
The American national was himself one of the best tennis players of his era. The former world number one grabbed eight Grand Slam titles including two Australian Open, three French Open and three US Open crowns. The right-hander
could not win the Wimbledon Championships throughout his career, losing the title match three times.
The 52-year-old is currently coaching Great Britain’s most successful tennis player in the last seven decades, Andy Murray.
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