Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl (Credit Rob Croes via Wikipedia)

When we speak about great male tennis players, there is an inevitable focus on the modern “Big Three” of Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. That is understandable, as that trio head the list of players with the most Grand Slam titles. Following Wimbledon 2026, they have won 24, 22 and 20 respectively, and those tallies may well remain unchanged unless Djokovic can somehow win the 25th major he so craves. Those three legends are well ahead of Pete Sampras, who is fourth with 14 majors.

If we delve back further, there is a certain romance attached to Bjorn Borg, while Aussie trio Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are all highly regarded. Going back much further still, we even have an Englishman, with Fred Perry, from Stockport, arguably the sport’s first real superstar.

One man who gets mentioned perhaps a little less than he should, however, is Ivan Lendl. The Czech-born legend “only” won eight Grand Slams, putting him joint-eighth overall, level with the likes of Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi. Beaten twice in the final at Wimbledon, that was as close as he came at SW19, so he did not complete the career Grand Slam.

However, he does boast some incredible achievements on the court. But more than that, Lendl, who was born in Ostrava in 1960, was a tennis pioneer. Many experts consider him the first player to truly embrace a professional attitude to the sport, prioritising preparation, fitness and a scientific approach to tennis. He has been dubbed the “father of modern tennis” by some, and his success from the baseline played a significant role in the game’s move away from serve-and-volley tennis to a style all about power hitting from the back of the court.

Firsts and Records


Lendl changed tennis in a broader sense; however, this is less quantifiable than some of the less important firsts and records he set. Though less significant to his status as a tennis game-changer, these hard facts do also illustrate just what a magnificent player he was. Moreover, it was his success on the court that validated his methods and style, leading to others copying him and underscoring his reputation as a pioneer.

90%+ Win Rate Over Five Separate Seasons

Perhaps the most impressive stat about his career is that despite the success of the big three, he remains the only player in the Open Era of the sport to boast a 90%+ win rate over five separate seasons. Lendl achieved this feat in 1989, 1987, 1985, 1982 and, his best year, 1986. In 1986 he won the French Open and the US Open and made the final at Wimbledon. The Australian Open was not held that year due to rescheduling of the tournament.

Lendl repeated his feats at those three Slams in 1987 and made the semis at the Australian Open, but his overall winning record was slightly lower than the 92.5% achieved in 1986. He lost just six times in 80 matches and only five players have ever had a better year in terms of win percentage. Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg both managed to reach 90% in four separate seasons, but Lendl stands alone as the only player to have done it five times.

Made It into the Final of the US Open Eight Years in a Row

The Czech-American (he became a US citizen in 1992), who like many involved in tennis lives in Florida, holds a host of other incredible records too. He is the only player to make the final of the same Slam eight years in a row, doing so at the US Open between 1982 and 1989. At that same tournament, he also won an amazing 26 sets in a row across the 1985 and 1985 events.

Most Consecutive Matches Won Indoors & the Most Consecutive Indoor Finals Reached

He also holds records for the most consecutive matches won indoors (66) and the most consecutive indoor finals reached (a scarcely believable 19). Many other records belong to Lendl, including, for example, making 18 ATP singles finals in a row and 20 in a row on hard courts; not to mention appearing in the ATP Finals decider a staggering nine years in a row (winning five).

$21m in Prize Money Across Career

All this success earned him $21m in prize money during his career. That’s a relatively small sum when we consider that winning the US Open was worth $5m in 2025, but even so, Lendl was the first to break through the $20m barrier. He reached the milestone in 1993, retiring the following year.

Less Obvious, More Meaningful


Lendl’s success was down to many things, not least the incredible resilience he showed after losing the first four Grand Slam finals he played in. He was the first player to do that, a rather unwanted record, but he kept going and went on to win eight of the next 15. He was obviously blessed with immense natural talent too, something no doubt helped by the fact that both his parents ranked among the top 15 players in what was Czechoslovakia at the time.

In 1978, partly thanks to success at the French Open and Wimbledon, he was the number one junior player in the world. But while he may have seemed destined for stardom and was fortunate in terms of both nurture, nature and temperament, it was his embracing of professionalism that truly allowed him to become one of the all-time greats. And it is this that truly makes him someone who shaped the future of tennis.

Science, Fitness and Professionalism

Ivan Lendl in 2018
Ivan Lendl in 2018 (Credit Leonard Zhukovsky via Shutterstock)

It would be wrong to suggest that players before Lendl did not take the game seriously or that they weren’t extremely fit. However, he really took things to the next level and dedicated himself 12 months a year to making the very best of his undoubted ability. He probably spent more time in the weights room than anyone at that time – and perhaps since too. He was relentless and methodical in his preparation, practice and conditioning. The physical intensity this enabled him to bring to the sport was something that had never been seen before.

The Tennis Hall of Fame comments that his “fitness was beyond reproach” and the same was true of the meticulous nature of his preparation. No stone was left unturned, with Lendl also one of the first to embrace new technologies and look for marginal gains, even if the term did not exist at the time.

Lendl also shaped tennis by the way he played the game. Serve-and-volley was far more common back then, but his power allowed him to dominate from the back of the court more than any other player of that era. His hard, flat, yet topspin-heavy forehand was almost a new weapon, especially when he ran around the ball to hit it inside-out.

Coaches at the time, notably Nick Bollettieri, as well as rival players, took note of the success that Lendl was having. What was new became the norm, and in all these ways, the eight-time Grand Slam champion changed tennis and moved the sport forward.