Murray lines up Lendl for spandex forfeit

 

Originally published on: 26/03/12 11:59

Be prepared for a spectacular sight at Wimbledon this summer. Ivan Lendl, Andy Murray’s coach, is being lined up to rollerblade into the All England Club wearing white spandex.
 
The ruse is being set up by Murray and his friends, the doubles pair of Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming. Murray relayed their plan to the official website at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where the world No.4 is through to the last 16 after his opponent, Milos Raonic, withdrew with an ankle injury from their scheduled third-round match on Sunday night.
 
“Ivan and I are going to play against Ross and Colin on clay,” Murray explained. “We’re going to play a doubles match for a forfeit, which hasn’t been set yet. Ivan rollerblades a lot and one of the potential forfeits if we lose was him rollerblading into Wimbledon, wearing his white spandex.”
 
Lendl was always fanatical about his fitness and said recently that he still rollerblades 15 miles a day, six days a week, at his club in Florida.
 
Why rollerblading? “It’s less stress on the knees and I’m doing it for my golf actually,” Lendl said. “I’m doing it for my golf because you’re in ‘posture’ position and you work your inner and outer thighs as well as your hamstrings, quad, buttocks and core. And it’s great for the lungs as well. It’s just bad for the wrists when you fall down.”
 
Lendl returned to the tennis court two years ago and plays every now and then on the ATP Champions Tour. He reached the final of last month’s event at Delray Beach, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Carlos Moya. It was an impressive performance given that 35-year-old Moya is 17 years younger than Lendl and was playing on the main tour less than two years ago.

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