By Cliff Richey
Cliff Richey is the former No. 1 ranked US player, US Open and French Open semifinalist and hero of the championship-winning 1970 US Davis Cup team. He is the author of the harrowing and inspiring book “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” available at www.CliffRicheyBook.com
I really enjoyed watching Andy Murray win the US Open earlier this year. Like so many, I thought he was due finally break through and win a major singles title. Murray is such a talented guy and it’s a very tough era to be successful. I think there was a bit of added pressure for Murray because of a few losing efforts in Grand Slam finals.
So did his coach Ivan Lendl make the difference? I think he did. I never knew Ivan during our tennis playing days. Ivan came onto the tour the year I retired. I only saw Lendl play once and that was during the 1978 French Open. For the next thirteen years he had one of the greatest careers of all time. One unreal stat — eight straight US Open finals. Ivan won every major except Wimbledon and he joked that he was allergic to grass.
I met Ivan on the celebrity golf tour. We played practice rounds and tournaments together. Probably the only guy to practice as much as me was Ivan. He left no stone unturned. I remember he brought his swing coach to several of our events. In Dallas in 1997 at one of our tour stops, I saw Ivan on the driving range in the morning. He played a lot of practice holes that day and finished his workout with sand bunker shots. I said “Ivan, if you keep this up, you’ll burn out!” He looked at me with an intense gaze and said “No, I get better” and he did.
A few years later on a tough course, the Atlantic City Country Club, Ivan shot 70-69 to win the tour event. Our events were real golf. No handicaps, put them all out and fourteen clubs. Lendl would go to the club manufacturers and get exactly fitted. He studied which golf ball best suited his game. He would chart every tournament course. Ivan Lendl left nothing to chance that he could control and he is a class guy. I asked him for some signed tennis gear for my charity golf event one year — no problem. And the next year he called me and wanted to know if I needed more. I also have had a couple of tennis days with Ivan. At a charity golf event for the Wounded Warriors at Camp LaJeune one year we did a tennis clinic for the troops’ families. Once again, he was a true pro. He showed up earlier than most of the clinic participants. Ivan asked if I wanted to hit a few. Exchanging groundstrokes with one of the all time greats was pure fun. I asked him to tell me what he felt his strengths were in his tennis game. It was a fairly simple answer but I think an instructive one: be physically fitter than any other player. Do maximum damage with the forehand on any short ball opportunity.
Do you think Andy Murray looked pretty fresh at the end of his five-set US Open final? Was he more aggressive with his shots when the opportunity?
Ivan has to be proud of Andy Murray for winning the US Open and leaving no stone unturned. After all he hired Ivan Lendl!