Ivan Lendl quotes

Ivan Lendl is a former Czechoslovakian professional tennis player, regarded as one of the greatest in the sport’s history. Known for his powerful baseline play, he won eight Grand Slam singles titles and dominated tennis in the 1980s. He later became a successful coach, contributing to the careers of other top players. Here are 30 of his quotes:

If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can. (Ivan Lendl)
I'm certainly not sorry that there were some things I missed. You may think you're missing something at that time but later when you look at it, you didn't miss anything. View quote
Ivan Lendl
Once you win, you have no doubt that you can win. So you have gone through it once, and you can do it again. View quote
Ivan Lendl
I got bad calls every match, and I never got an apology. So I thought it was rather strange. View quote
Ivan Lendl
I was between 2 and 3 in the world for two, three years. That's not exactly where I wanted to be. View quote
Ivan Lendl
If you go to school and practice for five days a week, it still gives you two days you can go and see your friends, you can go to the movies, you do whatever you like to do. View quote
Ivan Lendl
It's very nice to see when somebody who wanted to work hard and is willing to put the work in gets rewarded for it. View quote
Ivan Lendl
I enjoy life. I always enjoy jokes. View quote
Ivan Lendl
Many times the players get in there and it's just about as well as they could have done, and other times they get in there and they favorites and they don't win. View quote
Ivan Lendl
But to be fair, if you take players from my era to now, the game has changed and the players have many more shots. They use them differently than we did. The speed of the game has changed. View quote
Ivan Lendl
I just travel all the time. And I was just looking at the schedules now and starting the first week of October I will be every weekend with somebody at tournaments through Christmas. So it gets very difficult to just go away and not do that. (Ivan Lendl)
I think talent is dangerous to have if you take it for granted. If you use it well and put hard work with it together, it's hard to catch that guy. And I think that's what you're seeing right now. View quote
Ivan Lendl
But it's very difficult, I can tell you I played the Czech Open a few times and it's very difficult just to go on to a scene where the course is prepared differently when the greens are fast and he's not used to it and they're hard as a rock and he's not used to it. View quote
Ivan Lendl
I don't make a habit of watching tennis matches, but I try to watch all the major finals. I try to make time for that. So unless I have something going with the kids where I can't, I try to watch, and I enjoy that. View quote
Ivan Lendl
Because in order to beat Jimmy, I had to get around the ball a little bit quicker so I wasn't always on defensive and catching the ball on last stride, that I had little more time. Once I was able to get little bit quicker, then it has helped me a lot. View quote
Ivan Lendl
If you lose, it hurts, but as long as you have fought hard, you can still feel good about yourself. View quote
Ivan Lendl
You have to focus on the process. You cannot be glued to the results. View quote
Ivan Lendl
If you become great, then you can become happy. If you're happy first, it's much more difficult to be great. View quote
Ivan Lendl
People may say I developed an iron will, but what really happened is that I made myself much fitter. I think an iron will is always supported by fitness. View quote
Ivan Lendl
If you look at any superior athlete, you will find a strong parental influence. Parents introduce their children to a sport, and then they support them. View quote
Ivan Lendl
My serve and my forehand I pretty much always had, but my backhand was a made backhand. I worked on it for years. (Ivan Lendl)
Too many people asking too many questions in tennis. Golf is better. View quote
Ivan Lendl
Tennis is not like other sports where the coach is hired by an independent entity, and that makes a huge difference in the dynamic. View quote
Ivan Lendl
I certainly don't lose any sleep if I lose a tennis match. View quote
Ivan Lendl
You know how kids are. They like to do what parents do. View quote
Ivan Lendl

Ivan Lendl

Ivan Lendl - Image
Photo: Charlie Cowins, CC BY 2.0
Occupation: Czechoslovakian Athlete
Born: March 7, 1960
Quotes count: 30