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Howard Webb: my favourite player, Ivan Lendl

 

Although football has always been a focus I’ve always enjoyed a range of sports but as a kid along with football in the Winter I used to love tennis in the Spring and the Summer. As a kid my all time tennis hero was Ivan Lendl. I was so desperate for him to win Wimbledon but it never happened. He kept coming up against Boris Becker and he had a great chance against Pat Cash but lost that one. The point was about Ivan Lendl was that he was clean-cut and wore great Adidas shirts which I used to go out and buy to play my tennis in thinking I would be the next big thing but never was. Looking back he was such an icon for me. He could win all the other tournaments on clay and other hard courts in Australia and Europe but just couldn’t conquer Wimbledon which was really sad. So it was great when he finally won with Andy Murray in a different way as a coach.

The other guy I always liked was Andre Agassi. Out of all the sporting biographies I’ve read I think Agassi’s is my favourite. A flamboyant sort of character who again wasn’t that comfortable on grass but to come to Wimbledon in ’92 and win it with that double handed back hand that he had, playing from the baseline in that way. To win that way just showed his quality to adjust and be flexible. The greatest returner ever in the game in my opinion with a fantastic return of serve that was something I always enjoyed watching. In 2010 I got invited to Roland Garros as a guest of the Chair of Umpires Association and got to sit in the canteen alongside some of the greats of tennis. I see footballers all the time; Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, Lionel Messi and obviously not fazed by any of these guys as they are people I share my workplace with but sitting next to Raphael Nadal was something quite special for me

Howard Webb

Howard is supporting the Sporting Memories Network in tackling dementia, depression and social isolation. Read more here

Memory added on May 12, 2014

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Howard Webb is supporting the Sporting Memories NetworkHoward Webb is supporting the Sporting Memories Network