Tennis has been transformed over the last five decades by TV, money, technology, equipment, fashion and politics. But through all of that, the players have remained at the heart of the game. As part of our golden anniversary celebration of the Open era, Tennis.com presents its list of 50 best players—the Top 25 men and the Top 25 women—of the last 50 years. You'll be able to view the entire list in the March/April issue of TENNIS Magazine.
(Note: Only singles results were considered; any player who won a major title during the Open era had his or her entire career evaluated; all statistics are through the 2018 Australian Open.)
Years played: 1978-1994
*Titles: 94
Major titles: 8*
“I have more talent in my little finger than he has in his entire body,” John McEnroe once said of Lendl, his most hated rival. Lendl never really bothered arguing; he just kept doing the one thing that he undoubtedly had a gift for: working. By the time he had worked hard enough to pass McEnroe in titles won, majors won and weeks spent at No. 1—and had won nine of their last 10 matches—Ivan the Terrible had made himself into the greatest overachiever, and one of the most feared players, in tennis history.
Along with his fellow Czech-turned-American Martina Navratilova, Lendl transformed the sport in the early ‘80s with his systematic approach to training. Nutrition, weightlifting and early-morning aerobics became a standard part of the tennis-player’s regimen, and no detail was too small to consider. Before Lendl, it was unthinkable that a player would switch racquets with every ball change, in case the properties of the frame had altered during those nine games. After Lendl, it became standard practice.
It wasn’t just Lendl’s physical fitness that improved; his mental toughness did as well. He lost six of his first seven major finals, but by the mid-1980s he had transformed himself from soft to steely. Lendl would finish with eight major titles and 94 titles overall—15 in his breakout season of 1982. Lendl couldn’t match Jimmy Connors’ 109 titles, but he passed Jimbo in weeks spent at No. 1, 270 to 268.
For all of Lendl’s effort and professionalism, he struggled to win the love of fans and press: “The Champion That Nobody Cares About,” Sports Illustrated dubbed him in 1985. But his annual attempts to capture the only tournament that eluded him, Wimbledon, made him a more sympathetic figure. As always, Lendl went all out to make it happen, remaking his game for grass and skipping the French Open to prepare. The fact that this born baseliner reached two finals on Wimbledon’s then-slick turf was just one more in his long list of (over)achievements.