Stefan Edberg

"Edberg" redirects here. For other uses, see Edberg (disambiguation).
Stefan Edberg
Full name Stefan Bengt Edberg
Country (sports)  Sweden
Residence London, England, UK
Born (1966-01-19) 19 January 1966
Västervik, Sweden
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro 1983
Retired 1996
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money US$ 20,630,941
Int. Tennis HoF 2004 (member page)
Singles
Career record 801–270 (74.7%)
Career titles 41
Highest ranking No. 1 (13 August 1990)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open W (1985, 1987)
French Open F (1989)
Wimbledon W (1988, 1990)
US Open W (1991, 1992)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals W (1989)
Grand Slam Cup SF (1993)
WCT Finals F (1988)
Olympic Games SF (1988)
Doubles
Career record 283–153
Career titles 18
Highest ranking No. 1 (9 June 1986)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (1987, 1996)
French Open F (1986)
Wimbledon SF (1987)
US Open W (1987)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games SF (1988)
Team competitions
Davis Cup W (1984, 1985, 1987, 1994)
Coaching career (2014–)
Coaching achievements
Coachee Singles Titles total 10

List of notable tournaments
(with champion)

3x ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (Federer)
Davis Cup (Federer)

Medal record
Men's tennis
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
1988 Seoul Singles
1988 Seoul Doubles

Stefan Bengt Edberg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈsteːfan ˈeːd.ˈbɛrj]; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former world no. 1 professional tennis player (in both singles and doubles). A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 and 1996. He also won the Masters Grand Prix and was a part of the Swedish Davis Cup-winning-team four times. In addition he won four Masters Series titles, four Championship Series titles and the unofficial Olympic tournament 1984, was ranked in the singles top 10 for ten successive years, 9 years in the top 5, and is considered one of the greatest players of his era.[1] Edberg began coaching Roger Federer in January 2014.[2]

Career

Edberg first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior player. He won all four Grand Slam junior titles in 1983 to become the first (and only) player to achieve the "Junior Grand Slam" in the open era. Later that year as a professional, Edberg won his first career doubles title in Basel. Edberg accidentally caused the death of linesman Dick Wertheim with an errant serve during the 1983 US Open.

In 1984, Edberg won his first top-level singles title in Milan. Edberg also won the tennis tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics when the sport was an exhibition event and partnered with fellow Swede Anders Järryd to reach the final of the US Open. Edberg also reached the French Open doubles final with Järryd in 1986 and consequently was World No. 1 in doubles in that year.

U.S. fans first took notice of Edberg's professional career when he won the U.S. Indoor in Memphis in February 1985. Edberg's first two Grand Slam singles titles came at the Australian Open. In December 1985, he defeated Mats Wilander in straight sets to claim his first major title. In January 1987, he defended his title by defeating local favourite Pat Cash in five sets to win the last Australian Open held on grass courts. Edberg also won the Australian Open and US Open men's doubles titles in 1987 (partnering fellow Swede Anders Järryd).

In 1988, Edberg reached the first of three consecutive finals at Wimbledon, but lost his ranking as Sweden's number one player when Mats Wilander had his best year by winning the Australian, French and US Opens in 1988, becoming the world's number one ranked player. In all three of his consecutive Wimbledon finals, he played German Boris Becker in what became one of Wimbledon's greatest rivalries. Edberg won their first encounter in a four-set match spread over two days because of rain delays. A year later, Becker won in straight sets. The closest of their matches came in the 1990 final, when Edberg won in five sets after being down a break in the fifth set.

Edberg reached the French Open final in 1989 but lost in five sets to 17-year-old Michael Chang, who became the youngest ever male winner of a Grand Slam singles title. This was the only Grand Slam singles title that Edberg never won, denying him the completion of a career Grand Slam at the senior level, to match his junior Grand Slam.

In 1990, an abdominal muscle injury forced Edberg to retire from the Australian Open final while trailing Ivan Lendl 5–2 (including two breaks of serve) in the third set. Edberg nevertheless took the World No. 1 ranking from Lendl on 13 August 1990 by winning the Super 9 tournament in Cincinnati. He held it for the rest of that year and for much of 1991 and 1992. Edberg spent a total of 72 weeks as World No. 1. In 1991 Edberg again reached the Semi Finals of Wimbledon but lost to Michael Stich in a close match: 4–6,7–6,7–6,7–6.[3]

Edberg's final two Grand Slam singles triumphs came at the US Open, with wins over Jim Courier in the 1991 final and Pete Sampras in the 1992 final, who was just months away from being ranked No. 1 in the world.

Edberg reached the Finals of Australian Open again in 1992 and 1993, losing both times to Jim Courier in 4 sets. He was one of the few players who reached the finals for Australian Ppen 5 times. The 1993 Australian Open final was Edberg's last Grand Slam singles final appearance.

In 1996, Edberg reached the finals of Queens club but lost the match to Boris Becker. He won his third and final Grand Slam doubles title at Australian Open with Petr Korda. He reached quarterfinals of his last US Open after defeating Richard Krajicek and Tim Henman, but lost the quarterfinals to Goran Ivanisevic.

Edberg was most comfortable playing tennis on fast-playing surfaces. Of his six Grand Slam singles titles, four were won on grass courts at the Australian Open (1985 and 1987) and Wimbledon (1988 and 1990) and two were won on hardcourts at the US Open (1991 and 1992).

In December 2013 Stefan Edberg began coaching Roger Federer.[4]

Style of play

Edberg is noted as the finest serve-and-volley player of his era and arguably the greatest of all-time.[5] Edberg did not possess a powerful dominating serve like Pete Sampras or Boris Becker, but his serve was still very effective. Edberg often chose to use a less powerful serve, such as a kick or slice serve. The extra time from using a slower serve gave Edberg more time to get to the net, where he used his quick feet and athleticism to gain control of the point at the net. Edberg also had an excellent volley and could easily redirect powerfully struck balls to the open court. He also had sufficient groundstrokes, and his one-handed backhand was one of his marquee shots. Edberg's backhand was one of the most effective and considered the best of his era.

Equipment

Through his whole career, Edberg used Wilson Sporting Goods racquets and Adidas clothing and shoes.

Post-career competitive racquet sports

Edberg began playing competitive squash after his retirement from professional tennis and soon became an elite player in Sweden. When racketlon emerged as a growing sport in Scandinavia, Edberg's pro-level tennis ability and emerging squash prowess made him highly competitive, despite his relative inexperience in badminton and table tennis.

In September 2008, Stefan Edberg officially joined the Black Rock Tour of Champions, a tour for professional tennis players who have retired from the ATP Tour. Edberg won his first tournament in Paris held on clay, winning matches against clay court specialists Thomas Muster in the opening round and Sergi Bruguera in the finals.[6]

In January 2012, Edberg played a one-set exhibition against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Doha, Qatar, and lost 7–5.

Coaching

Edberg signed a contract to become Roger Federer's coach at the end of 2013. Their collaboration officially started at the 2014 Australian Open. Federer described Edberg's role "more of a mentor than a coach",[7] nonetheless his influence has been widely regarded as pivotal in the Swiss champion's eventual resurgence,[8][9] especially in bringing effective and more frequent serve-and-volley and net charging to his game.[10][11]

Distinctions and honors

Personal life

Edberg was born in Västervik, Sweden. He is married to Annette Hjort Olsen. They have two children, Emilie and Christopher.[14] (Olsen was once romantically linked to Edberg's tennis rival Mats Wilander before her marriage to Edberg.[15])

Edberg is a supporter of English football team Leeds United[16] and the Swedish ice hockey team Växjö Lakers.[17]

Career statistics

Records

Championship Years Record accomplished Player tied
No. 1 Ranking 1986–1987 Achieved both in singles and doubles John McEnroe
Fewest games match 1987 Triple bagel win (6–0, 6–0, 6–0) Nikola Špear
Karel Nováček
Ivan Lendl
Sergi Bruguera
Andy Murray

Professional awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ – 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis Era Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  2. ↑ "Edberg to work with Federer for at least 10 weeks in 2014". Tennis.com. 27 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Weeks at Number One
  4. ↑ "Roger Federer hires Stefan Edberg to join coaching team". 27 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Stefan Edberg and the 15 Best Serve-and-Volleyers of the Open Era, Bleacher report, 9 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Edberg Hits Back For First BlackRock Title BlackRock Tour Of Champions, 21 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Federer's interview Daily Mail, 24 March 2014
  8. ↑ How much have Roger Federer's new coach and racquet helped in his resurgence? Abhishek Jain, Sportskeeda, 12 September 2015
  9. ↑ The Man Behind Federer's Success Peter Bodo, ESPN 15 August 2014
  10. ↑ Federer looks for 'that little extra' with return to serve-and-volley roots Tennis.com, 24 June 2014
  11. ↑ "Video Analysis of Federer & Edberg's Footwork"
  12. ↑ "PowerShares Series Tennis – Player Profile". championsseriestennis.com.
  13. ↑ Tennis.com – 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis Era, Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  14. ↑ "Stefan Edberg: A Champion reflects", Rediff India Abroad. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  15. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Curry. "An Astonishing Net Result", Sports Illustrated. 14 June 1982. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  16. ↑ Baker, Andrew. Stefan Edberg returns to play Tim Henman, The Daily Telegraph (London), 28 November 2007.
  17. ↑ "Stefan Edberg: Jag vill sponsra Växjö". Aftonbladet.
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