Ironically, in the 1970s, it was the South African Open that was flourishing and attracting many of the best players in the world – among them Rod Laver, after whom the main stadium at the modernised Melbourne Park complex is named, Jimmy Connors,...

“Head-to-heads for me, I mean, are not the most important.” He has a point. Ivan Lendl dominated John McEnroe in head-to-head: 21-15 overall, 7-3 in majors. Yet McEnroe consistently hovers near the top of best-ever lists, while Lendl only ocassionally...

“That doesn't mean of course that I'm not gonna prepare well and perform my best on the other tournaments. It's just that, you know, the grand slams matter the most.” Clay has proved the most problematic for former greats such as Federer, Pete Sampras,...

He usually wore white shirts and large wristbands. He overpowered his opponents from the baseline with a big forehand. Like Djokovic, Lendl struggled to harness his tennis talent in his early 20s, losing to more flamboyant champions like Bjorn Borg and...

The man was a machine but was made to look like a spare part when John McEnroe breezed through the first set, taking it 6-1. The American, who was booed by the crowd as he entered Centre Court because of his angry exchanges with officials during the...

His writing has appeared primarily at SBNation.com and its affiliated website The Daily Forehand. He enjoys watching well-played tennis and, occasionally, a meltdown or two. Lewis lives in Kalamazoo, Mich. , the home of the U.S.T.A. Boys 16s and 18s...