was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, on March 7, 1960. Both of his parents were top tennis players in Czechoslovakia; in fact, his mother was at one point ranked Number 2 woman player in the country.

Ivan first came to the tennis world's attention in his own right as an outstanding junior player. In 1978, he won the boy's singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon, and was ranked the Number 1 Junior Player in the world that same year. He then left the amateur circuit and turned professional.

Chronology of His Professional Career

1979
Reached his first top-level singles final.

1980
Compiled a 7-0 record in singles and 3-0 in doubles to lead the Czechoslovakian team to a Davis Cup win (the only Czechoslovakian Davis Cup triumph).
Won 7 singles titles.
Won 3 tournaments in successive weeks on three different surfaces -- the only player in the open era to accomplish this feat.

1981
Part of the Czechoslovakian team which won the World Team Cup.
Made it to the finals of the French Open (his first Grand Slam final); lost to Bjorn Borg.
Won the year-end Masters championship.
Won 10 singles titles.

1982
Made it to the finals of the U.S. Open; lost to Jimmy Connors.
Won the year-end Masters championship.
Won 15 of 23 singles tournaments entered, compiling a record of 107-9, including a 44-match streak.

1983
Made it to the finals of the Australian Open; lost to Mats Wilander.
Made it to the finals of the U.S. Open; lost to Jimmy Connors.
Won 7 tournaments.
Ranked Number 1 in the world on February 8.

1984
Won the French Open, defeating John McEnroe in the final round (his first Grand Slam win).
Made it to the finals of the U.S. Open; lost to John McEnroe.

1985
Made it to the finals of the French Open; lost to Mats Wilander.
Won the U.S. Open by defeating John McEnroe in the final round.
Won the year-end Masters championship.
Captured 11 singles crowns in 17 tournament appearances.

1986
Won the French Open by defeating Mikael Pernfors in the final round..
Made it to the finals at Wimbledon; lost to Boris Becker.
Won the U.S. Open by defeating Miloslav Mecir in the final round.
Won the year-end Masters championship.
Ranked Number 20 doubles player on May 12, 1986.

1987
Won the French Open by defeating Mats Wilander in the final round..
Made it to the finals at Wimbledon; lost to Pat Cash.
Won the U.S. Open by defeating Mats Wilander in the final round.
Won the year-end Masters championship.

1988
Made it to the finals of the U.S. Open; lost to Mats Wilander.

1989
Won the Australian Open by defeating Miloslav Mecir in the final round.
Made it to the finals of the U.S. Open; lost to Boris Becker.
Won 10 titles out of 17.

1990
Won the Australian Open by defeating Stefan Edberg in the final round.

1991
Made it to the finals of the Australian Open; lost to Boris Becker.

1994
Retired from professional play.

Career Totals

Made it to a record 52 finals matches (including a 19 in Gram Slam events -- a record for male players).
Won a record 94 singles titles (including 8 Gram Slam titles), second to the 109 titles won by Jimmy Connors.
Made it to 10 doubles finals and won 6 doubles titles.

Won 44 matches straight between October 1981 and February 1982, the second-longest streak in the open era.
Won 66 indoor matches in a row between October 1981 and January 1983.

Made it to 8 consecutive U.S. Open finals between 1982 and 1989.

Shares a record with Jimmy Connors (1974) and Guillermo Vilas (1977) for most tournaments won in a single year, 15 in 1982.

Ranked Number 1 in the world for 157 straight weeks (1985-1988), 3 short of Jimmy Connors' record. Finished four years as Number 1 (1985, 1986, 1987, and 1989). His total of 270 weeks ranked Number 1 broke Jimmy Connors' record; it has subsequently been broken by Pete Sampras.

At the time of his retirement, he had earned $21,262,417 in prize money, a record at the time.

Honors and Awards

ATP Most Improved Player in 1981
ATP Player of the Year in 1985, 1986, and 1987.

Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001.

Post-Tennis Career

After leaving the professional tennis circuit, Lendl transferred his competitive spirit to professional golf. After a developmental period on the Moonlightgolf.com Tour he captured a win on the Celebrity Tour. In 2004, he organized the Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament. He still competes at the mini-tour level, but devotes much of his time to managing his daughters' golfing abilities.

Family Life

Ivan Lendl married Samantha Frankel on September 16, 1989. The couple has five daughters.

Lendl defected to the United States in 1986 when he was publicly threatened by the Czechoslovakian Tennis Association that he would not be allowed to travel abroad for tournaments any more because he had played a match in Sun City, South Africa. He became an American citizen in 1992.

He currently resides in Greenwich, Connecticut.

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