Ivan Lendl: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Ivan Lendl said elsewhere, not written here

I always wanted to play tennis. Otherwise, I always thought it would be fun to do something in mathematics or physics.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

Kate Mosse English writer

First I wanted to be in the circus, then a tap dancer, then prime minister. I have failed at all three.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 March 2022 source ↗

Emma Bunton British singer

An English teacher, and then a dance teacher.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 June 2021 source ↗

Gregg Wallace English broadcaster and writer

A sailor. I wanted to be in the Royal Navy like my grandad.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 April 2022 source ↗

Niamh Cusack Irish actress

A saint. Then a ballerina.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 October 2021 source ↗

I am not thinking about dying yet.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗

Plenty of matches got away, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so why worry?

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗

People who have done really well in their sports: in tennis, Steffi Graf; in ice hockey, Wayne Gretzky.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗

As a guy who had fun.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗

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