Sometime in the mid-eighties (by the time he had won the French and the US Open), he said that he played tennis only to win the Aus Open and the Wimbledon.
While he did annex the Aus Open, Wimbledon remained a distant dream.
Those good old days when you had to be a serve n' volley player to win on grass, Boris Becker had famously remarked - 'The only time Lendl comes to the net was to shake your hand'.
And true to his word, Wimbledon remained a dream for Ivan Lendl.
He retired fm the game with this unfulfilled dream. But then, you can take Lendl out of tennis but can't take tennis out of Lendl. He returned as Andy Murray's coach and the results are there for all to see.
Murray won the US Open, the Olympic Gold and the day before, won the Wimbledon. In fact, he's appeared in all Grand Slam finals since the US Open last year (he missed the French due to injury).
Being a die hard Ivan Lendl fan, it warms my heart to see the trophy in the hands of a player, who probably, would go down as the most unluckiest player not to have won the title while he was still playing.
Nevertheless, it's time to celebrate. Delayed by 26 years (1987 was his last final appearance at Wimbledon) but not denied. Lendl still has a lot to contribute and every single match that Murray wins has an Ivan Lendl stamp on it.
Ivan Lendl - He's back and how!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment