The former top ranked tennis player, Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl, a professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia was born on 7th March, 1960 in the city of Ostrava. The former top ranked tennis ace became the citizen of the United States of America later in her life. He was considered as one of the sport’s most commanding tennis ace back in 1980 and also stayed as a top class player in the early nineties as well. Lendl has grabbed a total of eight Grand Slam singles trophies. He participated in a total of nineteen Grand Slam singles final matches, a reputation for a player since exceeded by Roger Federer last year. He made his way into at least one of the Grand Slam finals on eleven occasions in a row, which is also a record for a player since levelled by Pistol Pete.
The right handed Lendl first grabbed the World Number One spot back in 1983 and reinforced his claim to the top position when he knocked down John McEnroe back in 1984 at the final of the French Open championship.
All the next five years, the 1.87 meters tall Lendl remained as the top ranked tennis ace till 1990. The player was listed as the number one for a total of two hundred and seventy weeks in a row, surpassing the record earlier made by Jimmy Connors which has since been outshined by Pete Sampras as well as Roger Federer.
Lendl's style of play was mainly based on power along with strong topspin and supported usher in the present age of “strong tennis”. He himself called his style of game as, “smashing hot”, an unyielding all surfaces game that ruled the world of tennis for many years.
The right handed Lendl first came in the limelight as an excellent junior player. He triumphed in the boy's singles championships at Wimbledon as well as French Open back in 1978, as a junior player. As a result, he was listed number one in the world’s junior players ranking.
The same year, he turned professional and made nearly a sudden impression on the sports. The player with a powerful serve gained a total of seven singles trophies in the season 1980 including three championship victories within three weeks in a row on three distinct courts. He carried on his winning momentum the next year and won a total of ten trophies in 1981.
The next year, Lendl triumphed in a total of fifteen out of the twenty three singles championships he participated with a match winning streak of forty four. He grabbed seven more titles in 1983.
Lendl's very first Grand Slam trophy came in 1984 at the French Open championship where he knocked down John McEnroe in a lengthy final match 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. McEnroe however took her revenge by knocking down Lendl in straight sets in both finals of the Volvo Masters as well as the US Open Championship in 1984.
From 1985 to 1987, his success percentage was even more than ninety percent. The Spaniard tennis sensation, Roger Federer levelled this record back in 2006. Till his retirement in 1994, Lendl has dominated the world of tennis with his class as well as high quality display of tennis and succeeded in a number of tournaments such as Australian Open, French Open, Masters Tournament, United States Open championship however the only Grand Slam tournament that he failed to win was Wimbledon.
Lendl succeeded in a total of ninety four career singles championships ranked by the ATP in addition to the forty nine non- ATP listed championships all through his career along with a total of six doubles trophies as well.
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