Ivan Lendl was a big force in men’s tennis in the eighties and early nineties. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a US citizen in 1992. During his illustrious tennis career lasting over a decade, Lendl won 8 out of 19 Grand Slam finals that he contested. He held the Grand-Slam-final- appearance record until 2009, when Roger Federer broke it. Rafael Nadal also went past that record in 2014.