Ivan Lendl- The Man Who Made Murray - Tapa dura

'Whatever happened between the two men, their relationship produced the required magic. In his fourth Grand Slam final, at Wimbledon in 2012, Murray fought like a lion before succumbing to Federer. Two months later, on the same court, he won the Olympic Gold Medal. In the autumn, he became the US Open champion. And, of course, he won Wimbledon last year, becoming the first British man in 77 years to claim the title. According to Hodgkinson, Murray’s win “enabled Lendl to attain what had always been out of his reach during his first tennis life: popularity with the British public” '

'Hodgkinson, with access to those closest to Murray as well as former players including Mats Wilander, Michael Chang and Pat Cash, gives an amazing insight into their relationship. Equally as fascinating as the 18 months leading up to Murray’s Wimbledon victory is Lendl’s life story both on and off the court. 

Much of the book is devoted to telling Lendl’s tale and his life growing up behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia. Hodgkinson looks at why Lendl was a ‘monitored person’ by the StB – Czechoslovakia’s equivalent of the Soviet KGB – and how his mother, Olga Lendlova, a determined woman much like Judy Murray, would shape his approach to tennis and to life. Although he would not go on to win Wimbledon himself, the Czech would spend 220 weeks as world No.1, win eight Grand Slams and 22 Championship Series titles.'

‘In his excellent and engrossing book, Hodgkinson sets about tackling the misconceptions and myths surrounding the man, who would eventually win eight Grand Slam singles titles, and as the title suggests, help Andy Murray to realise his ambitions.’

When Andy Murray broke the news in March 2014 that he was parting company with Ivan Lendl it caused shock waves across the world. In just over two years Lendl had turned Murray from a perennial runner-up into the most successful British tennis player since Fred Perry - a winner of the US Open, Olympic Gold and Wimbledon Champion.

However, when Murray - a 4 times Grand Slam finalist - announced, in 2011, that he was teaming up with the man they called the 'chokoslovakian' for the number of times he had lost a Slam final, there was widespread consensus that whoever had made the decision was either a genius or taking a huge gamble.

Lendl, who had fled from behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War to move to America in order to pursue his tennis dreams, was everything that his contemporaries – McEnroe, Becker, Connors – were not.  And yet, after falling at the final hurdle 4 times, he went on to win 8 Grand Slams. But there was one title missing – Wimbledon. And he was obsessed by it.

So what did Lendl and Murray see in each other that no one else did? What did Lendl do to turn Murray from a perennial runner-up to US Open Champion and the first Briton to lift the Wimbledon trophy in 77 years?

Going back to Lendl’s roots and through extensive interviews and analysis of the Murray-Lendl axis seen at close quarters, Mark Hodgkinson reveals the magic formula that Lendl used to turn Murray into a champion. In so doing he lifts the lid on their relationship, and how it came to an end, which made this left-field combination the most successful in British tennis history.