Ivan Lendl says Rafael Nadal is the modern player he would least like to play – because he hated playing left-handers.
Lendl is one of the most successful players in history, but two of his biggest rivals were John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, who were both left-handers.
And that caused a unique problem for Lendl because he claims he never had the chance to play against that particular variation in practice.
He, though, had a novel solution – hire one.
“The most difficult for me to play against would be Rafael Nadal because as a kid, I never got to play against left-handers,” Lendl told the Holding Court podcast when asked who from the modern era he’d least like to face.
“We had no left-handers at our club. That’s also why I hired Tony Roche as he was a leftie.
“He could tell me what left-handers liked and did not like.”
Lendl won eight Grand Slam titles and topped the world rakings for 270 weeks in an absolutely glorious career.
