We live in a time where all the tennis greats hail from Europe. Where once we loved the American icons such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi or worshipped the Antipodean artistry of Lleyton Hewitt or Pat Rafter, we now look up to the Holy Trinity from the European countries of Spain, Serbia and Switzerland. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have changed tennis history and given the game a future where other European players will have to reach the top of their craft to live up to the reputations that preceded them.

Three decades ago, three other European heavyweights redefined the era in which they played. German phenomenon Boris Becker, Swedish serve & volley specialist Stefan Edberg and clay court craftsman Ivan Lendl all commanded huge respect as they carved out careers that stand up to scrutiny today. We conclude our look at three men who reshaped the sport they played in by focusing on a player from the former Czechoslovakia who ripped up the rulebook and grumbled his way to eight Grand Slam titles across a completely unique sporting career – Ivan Lendl.

To say Ivan Lendl was unique is perhaps too baseline a comment. He was a clay-court baseliner in an era of serve-volley powerhouses like the aforementioned Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. Michael Stich was another who chose the path of power and pace above finesse and all-court fitness. But it wasn’t just the era during which he lived that Ivan Lendl played against type, it was the era before him and after him too. He was an anomaly, and as such should not have been successful. Uniquely, he was incredibly fruitful when to outsiders and fans, it almost seemed to be the if not impossible then counter-intuitive method of being so.

Lendl’s career began with junior stardom, with tournament wins at the French Open and Wimbledon before the Czechoslovakian turned pro in 1978. Success wasn’t instant – Lendl was no Becker – but he clambered up the ranks. Lendl reached his first Grand Slam final in 1981, making it to the final at Roland Garros. Lendl would lose in five sets to Bjorn Borg, but lessons were learned and a desperate ability to hang in sets and matches at the highest level was born.