Connors–Lendl rivalry

Jimmy Connors (World No1
8 Major singles
3 Year end championships

Ivan Lendl (World No1
8 Major singles
7 year end championships)

The Connors–Lendl rivalry was a tennis rivalry played between American Jimmy Connors and Czech-American Ivan Lendl, who met 35 times.^[1] Connors, who is 7 and a half years older than Lendl, won the first 8 matches, while Lendl won the last 17 and ended up leading the rivalry 22–13.

Lendl and Connors were both world number ones and both Grand Slam winners with each of them winning eight slam titles. At the Grand Slams they met seven times with Lendl winning the final four meetings with Connors winning the first three, of which the first two were finals. The rivalry between the two and McEnroe has been described as spikey.^[2]

The rivalry was first noted in the 1982 US Open final when Connors dared Lendl to drive the ball past him. Connors subsequently won the final in four sets. In the rematch in 1983, Connors was rushed to the locker room late in the second set before coming back out to defeat Lendl once again in four sets. The final match up between the two was also at the US Open, in 1992, Connors led for a set and a half pushed Lendl before falling to his 17th defeat in 8 years to Lendl.^[3]

Head-to-head

Official Matches

Connors–Lendl (13–22)

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score	Connors	Lendl
1.	1979	US Clay Court Championships	Clay	Quarterfinals	Connors	6–2, 7–6(7–0)	1	0
2.	1980	US Indoor Championships	Carpet	Round of 16	Connors	6–2, 6–3	2	0
3.	1980	WCT Finals	Carpet	Semifinals	Connors	6–4, 7–5, 6–3	3	0
4.	1980	Volvo International	Clay	Semifinals	Connors	6–4, 6–2	4	0
5.	1980	Cincinnati Open	Hard	Quarterfinals	Connors	6–2, 6–0	5	0
6.	1980	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Round Robin	Connors	7–6(7–1), 6–1	6	0
7.	1981	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Final	Connors	6–3, 7–6(7–5)	7	0
8.	1981	Davis Cup	Hard	Quarterfinals	Connors	7–5, 6–4	8	0
9.	1982	Cincinnati Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–1, 6–1	8	1
10.	1982	US Open	Hard	Final	Connors	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4	9	1
11.	1982	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Semifinals	Lendl	6–3, 6–1	9	2
12.	1983	Queen's Club Championships	Grass	Semifinals	Connors	6–0, 6–3	10	2
13.	1983	Canadian Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–1, 6–3	10	3
14.	1983	US Open	Hard	Final	Connors	6–3, 6–7(2–7), 7–5, 6–0	11	3
15.	1983	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Semifinals	Lendl	6–3, 6–4	11	4
–	1984	Rotterdam Open	Carpet	Final	Lendl	6–0, 1–0 ABD	11	4
16.	1984	WCT Tournament of Champions	Clay	Semifinals	Lendl	6–0, 6–0	11	5
17.	1984	Wimbledon	Grass	Semifinals	Connors	6–7(4–7), 6–3, 7–5, 6–1	12	5
18.	1984	Tokyo Indoor	Carpet	Final	Connors	6–4, 3–6, 6–0	13	5
19.	1984	Wembley Championships	Carpet	Semifinals	Lendl	6–4, 6–2	13	6
20.	1984	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Semifinals	Lendl	7–5, 6–7, 7–5	13	7
21.	1985	Paine Webber Classic	Hard	Final	Lendl	6–3, 6–2	13	8
22.	1985	WCT Finals	Carpet	Semifinals	Lendl	6–3, 2–1 RET	13	9
23.	1985	Roland Garros	Clay	Semifinals	Lendl	6–2, 6–3, 6–1	13	10
24.	1985	Volvo International	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–0, 4–6, 6–4	13	11
25.	1985	US Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–2, 6–3, 7–5	13	12
26.	1986	Miami Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	1–6, 6–1, 6–2, 2–6, 5–2 DEF	13	13
27.	1986	Paine Webber Classic	Hard	Final	Lendl	6–2, 6–0	13	14
28.	1986	Volvo International	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–4, 3–6, 6–2	13	15
29.	1987	Miami Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	3–6, 7–6(9–7), 7–6(11–9), 6–3	13	16
30.	1987	Washington Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–4, 7–6(7–3)	13	17
31.	1987	Canadian Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	7–5, 6–4	13	18
32.	1987	US Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–4, 6–2, 6–2	13	19
33.	1987	Masters Grand Prix	Carpet	Round Robin	Lendl	4–3 RET	13	20
34.	1988	Canadian Open	Hard	Semifinals	Lendl	6–4, 6–4	13	21
35.	1992	US Open	Hard	Round of 64	Lendl	3–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–0	13	22

• Note: The ABD 1984 Rotterdam final does not officially count as a victory according to the ATP. Lendl was leading 6-0, 1-0, when the final was abandoned due to a bomb scare.

Other matches

Invitational Matches

Connors–Lendl (3–8)

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score
1.	1981	Challenge of Champions	Carpet	Round Robin	Connors	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
2.	1982	Molson Light Challenge	Carpet	Round Robin	Lendl	6–4, 6–3
3.	1982	Challenge of Champions	Carpet	Final	Lendl	4–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
4.	1983	Sun City	Hard	Final	Connors	7–5, 7–6
5.	1983	Nastase-Hamptons Invitational	Hard	Final	Connors	6–3, 7–6, 6–1
6.	1985	Hamlet Challenge Cup	Hard	Final	Lendl	6–1, 6–3
7.	1985	Meadowlands Tennis Challenge	Carpet	Semifinals	Lendl	6–1, 6–3
8.	1985	Challenge of Champions	Carpet	Round Robin	Lendl	6–3, 5–7, 6–1
9.	1985	Challenge of Champions	Carpet	Final	Lendl	6–2, 6–3
10.	1990	WCT Tournament of Champions	Hard	Quarterfinals	Lendl	3–6, 7–5, 1–0 RET
11.	1991	Transcontinental Tennis Cup	Hard	Final	Lendl	Connors retired in 3rd set

ATP Rankings

Note: Connors was active in 1970–1972, but the ATP Rankings started in 1973.

See also

• Connors–McEnroe rivalry
• Lendl–McEnroe rivalry

References

External links

• ATP – Connors Lendl Head to Head