Ivan was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic on March 7, 1960. His parents, Jiri and Olga Lendl introduced him to the game, as they were both avid players. Jiri was once ranked No. 15 in Czechoslovakia while Olga reached the No. 3 ranking in the country. Their encouragement and love of the game rubbed off on their son, as he played with  determination on his country’s junior circuit. After building confidence and strength, he began his assault on the professional men’s tennis circuit.

Ivan turned pro in 1978 and beginning in 1980 reigned in the Top Ten of ranked men’s players for 13 consecutive years. Ivan became a leader in physical conditioning and with help from his coach, Tony Roche achieved his first No. 1 ranking in 1983. From 1985-88 he had an uninterrupted stretch of 157 weeks at No. 1. He held the No.1 spot for 270 weeks and his longest winning streak was 44 matches. His grand slam wins are below.

Ivan married his wife Samantha in 1989 and became a US citizen on July 2, 1992. He and Samantha have five daughters and reside in upstate Connecticut. Ivan has many diversified interests other than tennis. He has become a huge hockey fan and owns a significant art collection (posters) of Czechoslovakian artist of Alphonse Mucha. He also breeds German Shepherds for use by police departments and sight impaired individuals.

Since retiring from tennis at the end of 1994, Ivan has focused on another sport with great enthusiasm Golf. Ivan owns a sports management company, Spectrum Sports and is responsible for initiating the "Hitting Hot" system for teaching tennis that has become the basis of instruction at Grand Slam Tennis Club.

Australian Open: 1989 & 1990
French Open: 1984, 1986 & 1987
U.S. Open: 1985, 1986 &1987

Although Wimbledon title eluded Ivan, he was a finalist in 1986 & 1987

In addition to the Grand Slam titles, Ivan won 86 professional singles titles and until recently was the men's career prize money leader. While playing Davis Cup from 1978 - 1985, Ivan compiled a 22 -15 career record, including 18-11 in singles.