40 years ago today: Ivan Lendl becomes number one in the world for the first time
Ivan Lendl is one of the great icons of tennis. 40 years ago today, on February 28, 1983, the native Czech reached the top of the ATP world rankings for the first time.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Feb 28, 2023, 02:54 pm
It's hard to believe, but Ivan Lendl, who is now perceived as an ice-cold winning machine, was considered the "weak" number one for a while. Because when the legendary Czech stormed the top of the ATP world rankings for the first time on February 28, 1983, he had not yet won a Grand Slam tournament. On the other hand: In the calculation period of the charts, i.e. the past twelve months, Lendl was able to get an incredible 15 titles.
Ivan Lendl made up for the flaw of becoming the first number one in history that no major had won, just over a year later. He won the final in Roland Garros against his arch-rival John McEnroe after a 2-0 set deficit. A bankruptcy that McEnroe has to nibble on to this day.
Lendl alongside Murray
In total, there should be eight individual titles in majors (94 in total), only in Wimbledon was it only enough for two finals: In 1986 Lendl lost there against Boris Becker, a year later against Pat Cash. So soon there was no more talk of “weak”.
Lendl is currently on the road as a super coach with Andy Murray from time to time, the Scot gave the now 62-year-old a few long nights at the Australian Open. The cooperation with Alexander Zverev, on the other hand, was shorter for Ivan Lendl and without the hoped-for win of a major, which he had managed to do with Murray.