Lendl Comments On Celebrity Coaches, Chang, Becker, Edberg, Ivanisevic

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 10th January 2014

Lendl Comments On Celebrity Coaches, Chang, Becker, Edberg, Ivanisevic

epa03765229 Coach Ivan Lendl watches Andy Murray of Britain take on Tommy Robredo of Spain during their third round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 28 June 2013. EPA/TOM HEVEZI |

Ever since Ivan Lendl wandered back into the major tennis arena two years ago after more than a decade out of the spotlight he has cast a solitary image. Now with contemporaries like Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Michael Chang adopting the new roles of ‘celebrity coaches,’ there would apparently be a sense of familiarity for the 53 year-old who won two Australian Open titles.

Yet Lendl does not see himself in competition with Edberg, whom he beat in the 1990 Melbourne Park final, Becker with whom he had many cataclysmic battles, or anyone else.

“People are always reading too much into these things,” was Lendl’s characteristic first response, when the issue was put to him by Britain’s Daily Telegraph.

“There have been famous coaches before. Look at Rochey [Tony Roche, the Australian who worked with Lendl almost 30 years ago]. There was [Jimmy] Connors. It’s nothing new.”

However Lendl will concede there is most definitely no substitute for experience and he continued: “There’s definitely something the older guys can help with.

“They have the experience of having been out there on the court, so they can do an important job of calming today’s guys down. But mostly it’s down to the players on the court.

“In any relationship the chemistry is important. Your best coach at an academy may not be the right person to work with your best kid, but you put them with someone less good and they do a great job. If a guy with 30 majors comes in and the chemistry is not there, it’s not going to work.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Melbourne, Michael Chang, Stefan Edberg, Tennis, Tennis News