10 Best Tennis Comebacks Of All Time

2. Lendl Def McEnroe - 1984 French Open

24 year old Ivan Lend had never won a major tournament. When McEnroe and Lendl met in the finals of the French Open in June of 1984, McEnroe was the prohibitive favourite, having enjoyed a near perfect season to date - in fact McEnroe had not lost a single match in 1984. Lendl by comparison was loudly criticised for always being the bridesmaid - he had made it to tournament finals but had always found to be left wanting in the face of his opponent.

The 1984 French Open Final Match appeared to be heading into familiar territory. McEnroe was on fire - serving well, striking the ball perfectly, hitting decisive strokes, and generally making Lendl look slow-footed and slow-witted at times. The first two sets were a painful affair to watch from the Lendl camp, with two breaks of serve seeming to show the Czechoslovakian collapsing under the pressure.

The turning point came in the 3rd set when the easily agitated American became enraged at a camera man who’s headset was emitting noise and supposedly causing a distraction. With McEnroe’s concentration broken, Lendl escaped from his hole and began his redemption! The French Open crowd were fully behind underdog Lendl and began chanting his name and cheering wildly as points fell his way. After 4 hours and 8 minutes on court Lendl's time had come to lift the trophy!

Post match McEnroe refused to let the crowd get to him post match blaming himself for his collapse. Years later McEnroe has gone on to say that match still haunts him.

Ivan Lendl (CZE) Beats John McEnroe (USA) 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5