Ivan the Terrible for Showdown

I'm at an age where things retro are hip and trendy. That is why when it was announced Ivan Lendl would be one of six tennis stars coming to Kuala Lumpur next month for the 2010 Showdown of  Champions, billed the Night of Aces, my mind harks back to my early teens. Lendl's exploits as a mean machine on the tennis court filled my imagination. Very few words on Lendl's career in the New Straits Times in the 80s escaped me. Rolland Garros, Flushing Meadows and Wimbledon...everything about tennis that I know was largely due to my admiration for Lendl, a true winner. Of course it helped that my late Ayah was an avid tennis player. My involvement though was restricted to carrying his tennis bag and putting it into the car!

I used to have posters of Ivan Lendl on my wall

I had a pair of this

But I never had the means to buy this shirt

Among the first few I wish to meet in the flesh is of course Ivan the Terrible. Then only shall I renew my acquaintance with Miss Kournikova...