2018 ATP Tour Finals, London

[don_budge]

Ivan Lendl...The Player vs. The Coach

I have the ultimate respect for Lendl as a player. He has always been underrated no matter what level he has been appreciated at. He is truly one of he greatest players of all time. His career straddled the original line of demarcation as did John McEnroe's and Jimmy Connors. These are the "Big Three" in his regard. These players struggled not only against their competition but also with the introduction of the new equipment when the size of the racquet went from 60 square inches to 110 square inches in the wink of a young girls eye. These studs adapted...and studs they were.

Video below illustrates my comment above about Ivan Lendl the player. Here he is in the 1989 Wimbledon semifinal against Boris "Boom Boom" Becker. Grass was a surface that was tailor made for the Becker serve and volley while it was the least favourite surface for Lendl until he discovered golf. Lendl is playing with the Adidas 80 square inch racquet while his opponent Becker has 92 square inches of Puma. This is a real pity and the ITF will never in a million years take responsibility for the disparity in the equipment.

Lendl either had enormous respect for some things somewhat traditional or he was just plain stubborn like our boy Roger Federer. Federer should have change equipment eons before he finally did. It could very well cost him the head to head advantage over both Nadal and Djokovic. Not to mention a bunch of big titles...majors. Hindsight is 20/20 of course but what would Roger have done if he had a do over.

The point is we have all witnessed what an incremental different in racquet head size has meant to the Federer game. After he changed equipment he suddenly realized..."hey, I can come over the backhand and drive it". We are only talking about a difference of seven square inches in Federer's case. Size matters...no matter what the ladies tell you.

But Lendl, McEnroe and Connors all stood at the top of the heap along with Bjorn Borg when the new equipment took over the game of tennis. These guys were the monkey in the middle. They had climbed the ladder to the Promised Land on top of the heap with their trusty swords and when it came time for the minions to start nipping at their heels with the new shiny modern howitzers...Borg quit, McEnroe compromised, Lendl and Connors largely held out. These four had real ball...not just tennis balls.

My admiration for Lendl as a tennis player is right up there with the best of them. Including Federer. Much of Federer's elegance and perfection is attributable to the equipment. It is partly illusion...without a doubt. Not that I don't think he wouldn't have played beautifully with a Dunlop Maxply. He would have. I do question though how well his nemesis' Nadal and Djokovic would have.

Watch Lendl get down and dirty as he shows a lot of grit in this loss to Becker. Becker was awesome in his prime. The conditions were totally different as well. Something youtube will not point out to the average viewer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhX0w4hWBrU

If Lendl can bring some of this grit to Alexander Zverev's game then stroke is more likely going to see the young man hoist one. A Big One.