Guillaume Issner, published on Saturday October 17, 2020 at 4:27 p.m.
After Rafael Nadal’s 13th coronation at Roland Garros, a tennis legend made the Mallorcan the most difficult player to face among the latter, Djokovic and Federer. A certain Ivan Lendl.
Over time, tennis has had its legends. If Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been the three greatest champions of the little yellow ball for about fifteen years now, big names fill the history of racquet sport, such as Pete Sampras, Björn Borg or even Ivan Lendl. The latter, winner of 8 Grand Slam titles in his career, has also joined the staff of Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev in the last decade. But with a little imagination, what would have been the performance of Ivan Lendl against the top names of the current circuit? If he admires the overwhelming power of the Big 3 on world tennis, the former world number one lent himself to the game of knowing that he of Djokovic, Federer or Nadal would have been according to him, the hardest opponent to play. And the 60-year-old man, who joined the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001, has his own idea.
A formidable left-hander
“It would have Nadal because in my youth it was rare to play a left-hander, so I would have been logically embarrassed. In my career, that’s also why at one point I hired Tony Roche, I wanted to understand the game of the left-hander, its advantages and disadvantages and that this could also change my game, ”he said. he declares. A thrilling duel on paper between the eldest, winner of three editions of Roland Garros, and the Spaniard, record holder for final victories at the French Open with 13 coronations. Rafael Nadal will appreciate Lendl’s words, a compliment that proves how the Spaniard is an intractable opponent. The greatest clay court champion of all time has trivialized the exceptional, as have his greatest rivals: the 33-year-old Serb and 39-year-old Swiss. At 34, he has not finished impressing and intends to dethrone Roger Federer in the number of Grand Slam titles, at a time when the two men have twenty coronations each.
