"This guy is so bad, they hired him to screw up the matches" - When Ivan Lendl fumed at chair umpire over controversial calls in loss to John McEnroe
Ivan Lendl once lost his cool against long-time rival John McEnroe in the finals of the 1985 Canadian Open.
Lendl and McEnroe have faced each other 36 times in their careers. There have been some close matches during which both players lost their cool.
One such situation arose in the final of the 1985 Canadian Open. Ivan Lendl was serving at 5-6 when he got angry at chair umpire Jeremy Shales after the latter called a forehand out, which seemed to have been on the line.
Lendl, confused by this call, questioned the umpire about it. However, Shales gave him a warning for a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.
''I definitely got very upset in the 12th game of the first set," Lendl said after the match. "This guy (Shales) is so bad, it's embarrassing. They hired him to screw up the matches.'' (quotes collected by UPI Archives)
In the second set, things went from bad to worse. Lendl sat down and refused to play further when Shales gave a call to replay McEnroe's first serve that had apparently landed out. The Czech had to be convinced by the supervisor and the match referee to continue playing.
"Quite typically, they just backed him (Shales) up, I told them: Look guys, his serve is good enough, you don't have to stretch the lines 2 feet wider. The controversial call killed any chances of a comeback. I felt like I was getting momentum, unfortunately, I lost it," Lendl said.
John McEnroe also voiced his opinions on the controversy after the match. The American felt Lendl overreacted to the calls in the first set.
"Both times that I broke him, it came down to a couple of mistakes - him double-faulting, you can't afford to give away those points in a match like that," McEnroe said.
McEnroe also mentioned how the Czech was struggling mentally and barely managing to keep it together. He said:
"He looked like he was on the verge of losing it completely, but he hung in there. But he was barely there the rest of the time. He was just fighting to keep it together mentally."
McEnroe ended up winning the match and the title in straight sets.
A breakdown of the meetings between Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe
Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe faced each other 36 times from 1980-1992 with the head to head going in the Czech's favor at 21-15. Lendl dominated their meetings in the beginning and in the end. He won seven of their first 10 meetings and nine of their final 10 meetings.
Their most memorable match was the 1984 French Open final where Lendl came from two sets down to defeat the American 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5.
Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe met 10 times in Grand Slams with the Czech leading 7-3. Their only meeting in the Davis Cup was won by Lendl. Both the players have held the year-end No. 1 ranking four times each.