A Hall Of Fame Caddie Daddy

Lendl Girls, Slated To Play In Girls' Junior, Make Tennis Great Papa Proud

By Chris Baldwin

Ivan Lendl lingers in the mall for a moment, stopped cold by an everyday scene. It does not matter that Lendl won eight Grand Slams, dominated tennis like few legends before or since him ever have, at this instant. All his tournament prize money and endorsement earnings (a reported $100 million combined) cannot help him now either.

No, at this moment, Lendl is just another dad, prone to worrying about his little girls.

Marika Lendl played in last year's Girls' Junior at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn., losing in the first round of match play to Whitney Wade, 5 and 4. (USGA Photo Archives)

A few things are universal, cutting through both celebrity and wealth. Fatherhood is definitely one of them. And only a father can truly understand how seeing a bunch of girls, teen-aged and younger, just hanging around a mall can send shivers of real fear shooting down a spine.

“I had to go to the mall the other day and there were all these girls -- girls the age of my daughters -- just there, not really doing anything,'' said Lendl, painting the picture during a cell phone call. “They were just there. That's scary. At a mall all day … you never know what could happen.

“I'm just glad my daughters have golf. I don't need to wonder where they are. I know where they are, at the golf course, working on their game.''

Lendl pauses, lets the silence fill the phone line. He wants to make sure you get it, wants to be certain you understand just what it means to him to have two of his daughters in the field of next week's U.S. Girls' Junior Championship.

Lendl would love to see Marika, 14, and 12-year-old Isabelle challenge for a United States Golf Association title. Few thrills could ever compare to that -- and Lendl is a man who knows thrills, having given the world goose bumps with his rally from two sets down in the 1984 French Open final against a stunned John McEnroe.

But in truth, it's not about that. Just like it is not about living up to his famous name. Lendl does not care about such nonsense. He only cares that his daughters have found a game.

“I'm just glad they have a sport to play,'' said Lendl.

Lendl was in Denver as he talked Sunday, hurrying to catch a flight. Having just putted out to finish 29th at the John Elway Celebrity Classic, Lendl needed to get to San Diego.

Marika and Isabelle are competing in the Junior World golf showcase this week and dad wasn't about to miss a single drive. After the Junior Worlds, there will be another flight to Fort Worth, Texas, for the U.S. Girls' Junior.

Lendl, Hall of Fame tennis icon and multimillionaire businessman, is just another golf dad arranging his schedule around his kids' tee times. It is a transformation that has even surprised him a little. Lendl sounds almost embarrassed when he admits he has not been spending as much time on the practice range working on his own golf game as he should.

“With the girls more involved in sports, there's not as much time for me to do my own thing,'' said the 44-year-old Lendl, a regular Celebrity Players Tour and U.S. Open qualifier participant. “I put the work in when I can.''

This is the same guy whose relentless practice habits made his pro tennis peers feel like they were competing against a tireless robot? This is the same guy whose devotion to extra court time inspired Vijay Singh, one of the PGA Tour's biggest workaholic?

Yes and yes.

Well, at least the same guy turned dad.

For while it's true as Singh said of his practice model at the U.S. Open, “ Ivan Lendl was one of the best tennis players. He said if he missed one day it took him two days to come back," things change when you're dad.

Lending Support

Lendl encourages his golf-playing daughters to take a day off every week. He does not want their passion to become work. In an age when Tiger Woods-obsessed parents routinely hand toddlers golf clubs and pre-schoolers take professional lessons, the Lendl girls got into the game relatively late. Isabelle took it up first, following her golf-devoted father to the country clubs around their 800-acre estate in Goshen, Conn. Marika only became involved by the lure of a German shepherd (dad promised her a dog if she would participate in a sport after giving up tennis). Eleven-year-old Daniela, who goes by the family nickname Crash, also plays. Six-year-old Nikola is just starting. Isabelle 's twin, Caroline, is the only golf holdout among the five Lendl girls, which is fine with dad because of all her other activities including tennis.

This is Lendl's retirement entourage: six girls (wife Samantha completes the sextet) and a smile.

“I had my time,'' said Lendl. “This is their time. The kids come first.''

It turns out the kids' time provides dad with unforgettable moments. When Isabelle stared down older competitors to qualify for next month's U.S. Women's Amateur with a cool 75 at the Brae Burn Country Club in Newtonville, Mass., on July 6, the tennis legend was there, holding her bag. That's what golf dads do. They caddie. They cheer. Sometimes they hold back a tear.

“I know what that meant to Isabelle,'' said Lendl, the excitement returning to his voice a week later. “It was hard for her being too young to qualify for a lot of tournaments last year, having to watch Marika play in these big events. Now she earned her way and no one can take that away from her.''

Ninety-four career tournament wins? Two hundred seventy straight weeks at No. 1? One day lugging around Isabelle 's clubs?

Only a dad could understand how they compare.

So Lendl will pull for Marika, knowing that she is still not as long off the tees as some of the other girls. He will root for Isabelle, knowing that she is one of the youngest competitors in the 156-player field (Marika was one of only 10 13-year-olds in last year's event and Isabelle will be the fifth-youngest competitor next week).

Marika Lendl, left, with dad Ivan, doesn't want to live in the shadow of her father's name. (USGA Photo Archives)

Marika and Isabelle will relish the fact the Lendl name is not a big one to all the other players. Not with defending champ Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff playing in her record-tying sixth Girls' Junior. Not with Paula Creamer -- Michelle Wie 's amateur equal at the U.S. Women's Open -- shooting for the trophy.

Marika talks of making a name for herself, separate from her father's sports legacy. Golf provides that opportunity.

She already took one big step last month, winning her first major junior tournament title in a playoff at the Scott Robertson Memorial 15-18 Girls Championship in Roanoke , Va. Just a few days past her 14 th birthday, Marika broke LPGA rookie Aree Song 's record as the youngest golfer to ever win the Robertson.

“This is my first and it's not definitely not the last,'' Marika told reporters after that win.

Of course, dad was there, taking it all in. Lendl does not go into the old parent cliché and say its more nerve racking to watch his daughters play than to play himself. Lendl was never into false hyperbole. Besides, that would be disrespectful to his girls. They are the ones putting in the work, sweating out the shots.

It has been 10 years since a bad back forced Lendl to put down his tennis racket, even longer since his line-snuggling strokes brought a touch of class to the wild antics of the McEnroe/ Jim my Connors era. Lendl is not trying to hold on to his Glory Days like the baseball player from Bruce Springsteen 's song. He's just trying to be the best dad he can.

Sometimes that means using a dog to spark a passion (German shepherd Dewey is still a proud member of the family). Sometimes that means carting around Isabelle 's bag. Sometimes it means taking the laughs when the girls read in Sports Illustrated that none other than Snoop Dog of “Doggy Fizzy Televizzle” calls their dad, “sharp, an old schooler … the truth.''

And sometimes it means breathing a sigh of relief when he goes to the mall.

“When I saw all those girls at the mall with nothing to do but get in trouble, I was even more thankful for golf,'' said Lendl.

In a few moments, the tennis great will hang up the phone and hustle for that flight. He has a really important sporting event to catch.

After all, Lendl cannot help himself. He's a dad.

  Chris Baldwin is a free-lance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usopen.com and www.uswomensopen.com .

Home / News / Players / Course / History