 Edberg in 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Jan Stefan Edberg | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Sweden | |||||||||||||||||
| Residence | London, England, UK | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1966-01-19)19 January 1966 (age 59) Västervik, Sweden | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 1983 | |||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1996 | |||||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) | |||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Tony Pickard | |||||||||||||||||
| Prize money | US$20,630,941 | |||||||||||||||||
| Int. Tennis HoF | 2004(member page) | |||||||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 801–270 (74.8%) | |||||||||||||||||
| 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) | |||||||||||||||||
| Doubles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 283–153 (64.9%) | |||||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Finals | W (1985,1986) | |||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | SF (1988) | |||||||||||||||||
| Team competitions | ||||||||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | W (1984, 1985, 1987, 1994) | |||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career (2014–2015) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Coaching achievements | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coachee singles titles total | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| List of notable tournaments (with champion) 3 xATP World Tour Masters 1000 (Federer) | ||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jan Stefan Edberg (Swedish:[ˈstěːfanˈêːdbærj]; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professionaltennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men'ssingles and men'sdoubles by theAssociation of Tennis Professionals (ATP), one of two players in theOpen Era to hold both positions (alongsideJohn McEnroe). Edberg won 41 career singles titles and 18 doubles titles, including ninemajors: six in singles and three in men's doubles. A major practitioner of theserve-and-volley style of tennis, Edberg also won the1989 year-end championships, ledSweden to fourDavis Cup titles, and won fourMasters Series titles and fourChampionship Series titles. After retirement, Edberg coachedRoger Federer from January 2014 to December 2015.[2]
Edberg first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior player. In the early 1980s, he won theEuropean Junior Championships in the Under 14 and Under 16 categories, beatingJonas Svensson in both finals.[3][4] He then 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.[5]
In 1983 Edberg won his first career doubles title inBasel. In 1984, Edberg won his first top-level singles title inMilan.[1] Edberg also won thetennis tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics when the sport was an exhibition event and partnered with fellow SwedeAnders Järryd to reach the final of theUS 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, defeatingYannick Noah in the final. Edberg's first two Grand Slam singles titles came at theAustralian Open. In December 1985, he defeated No. 1Ivan Lendl in a five-set epic Australian Open semi-final match which was stopped multiple times by rain and played over two days.[6][7][8] He then defeatedMats Wilander in straight sets to claim his first major title.
Edberg reached the semi finals of the US Open in 1986 but lost in straight sets to Lendl.[9] In January 1987, he defended his title by defeating local favouritePat Cash in five sets to win the last Australian Open held on grass courts. Edberg reached the Wimbledon semi finals but lost in four sets to Lendl.[10] He lost in four sets to Wilander in the US Open semi finals (Wilander made 9 unforced errors to Edberg's 44).[11] Edberg also won the Australian Open and US Open men's doubles titles in 1987 (partnering fellow SwedeAnders Järryd).
In 1988, Edberg lost in the Australian Open semi finals in five sets to Wilander (Edberg made 38 more unforced errors than his opponent).[12] He reached the first of three consecutive finals atWimbledon, 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, becoming the world's number-one-ranked player. In all three of his consecutive Wimbledon finals, Edberg played GermanBoris 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.
Edberg reached the 1989 French Open final (beating Becker in the semis in five sets) but lost in five sets to 17-year-oldMichael 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. Becker won the Wimbledon final in straight sets over Edberg. Edberg gained revenge on Becker in the Masters final. After being a point away from a two set lead, Becker lost in four sets.[13]
In 1990, an abdominal muscle injury forced Edberg to retire from the Australian Open final while trailingIvan Lendl 5–2 (including two breaks of serve) in the third set. The closest of the Becker-Edberg Wimbledon finals came in the 1990 final. Becker led 3–1 in the fifth set but missed two easy forehand volleys and lost his serve, then at 4–4 Edberg hit a topspin lob to break Becker again and then held to win the match.[14] Edberg took the world No. 1 ranking from Lendl on 13 August 1990 by winning theSuper 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 the 1991 Australian Open semi finals, Edberg served for the match against Lendl leading 5-4 in the fourth set and had two match points but went on to lose in five sets.[15] Edberg again reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon but lost to Michael Stich in four sets (losing three sets on tie breaks). Edberg's final two Grand Slam singles victories came at the US Open. In 1991 he defeatedJim Courier in the final in straight sets. Edberg was "a model of all-court brilliance and coolheadedness" and said afterwards it was the best match he had ever played.[16] Courier gained his revenge by winning the 1992 Australian Open final in four sets. At1992 US Open Edberg was a break down in the fifth set againstRichard Krajicek in the fourth round but won.[17] He then defeated Lendl in a five-set thriller spread over two days in the quarterfinals, having been a break down in the fifth set.[17][18][19][20][21] He then defeated Michael Chang in the longest US Open match in history at the time, in the semi-finals, at 5 hours and 26 minutes, after being a break down in the fifth set.[17][22] Edberg defeated Pete Sampras in the final in four sets (after Sampras had served for a two sets to one lead) to win his sixth and last Grand Slam singles title.[17]
In 1993, Edberg lost to Jim Courier in the Australian Open final in four sets. He was one of the few players who reached the finals of the Australian Open five times. The 1993 Australian Open final was Edberg's last Grand Slam singles final appearance. He reached the Wimbledon semi finals but lost in four sets to Courier (Courier "used his attacking baseline game to keep Edberg off balance").[23]
Edberg reached the Australian Open semi finals in 1994 but lost in four sets to Todd Martin. "Martin continually left Edberg watching at the net as passing shots flew by".[24] This was Edberg's last Grand Slam singles semi final. In 1996, Edberg won his third and final Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open withPetr Korda. He reached the final of Queens Club but lost the match to Boris Becker. He reached the quarterfinals of his last US Open after defeatingRichard Krajicek and Tim Henman, but lost in the quarterfinals toGoran Ivanišević. He retired at the end of the year.
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 onhardcourts at the US Open (1991 and 1992).
Edberg is noted as one of the finest serve-and-volley players of his era.[25] Edberg did not possess a powerful dominating serve likePete Sampras orBoris Becker, but his serve was still largely 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. Edberg's volleying skills were among the very best and he could easily redirect powerfully struck balls to the open court. He had sufficient groundstrokes, and hisone-handed backhand was one of his marquee shots. Edberg played a two-handed backhand in his youth, but switched to a one-hander relatively late in his development, after winning the European Junior Championships.[26][better source needed] Edberg's backhand was extremely effective and considered amongst the best of his era.
Throughout his career, Edberg usedWilson[27] racquets andAdidas clothing and shoes.
Edberg began playing competitivesquash after his retirement from professional tennis and soon became an elite player in Sweden.[28] Whenracketlon emerged as a growing sport inScandinavia, 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 theATP Tour. Edberg won his first tournament in Paris held on clay, winning matches againstclay court specialistsThomas Muster in the opening round andSergi Bruguera in the finals.[29]
In January 2012, Edberg played a one-set exhibition againstJo-Wilfried Tsonga in Doha, Qatar, and lost 5–7.[citation needed]
Edberg signed a contract to becomeRoger Federer's coach at the end of 2013.[30] Federer described Edberg's role as "more of a mentor than a coach";[31] nonetheless, his influence was widely regarded as pivotal in the Swiss champion's eventual resurgence,[32][33] especially in bringing effective and more frequent serve-and-volley and net charging to his game.[34][35] Their collaboration ended in December 2015.[36]
Edberg was born inVästervik, Sweden. He is married to Annette Hjort Olsen, whom he married in April 1992. They have two children, Emilie and Christopher.[40] Olsen was previously in a relationship with Edberg's tennis rivalMats Wilander before her relationship with Edberg began in 1985.[41]
Edberg is a supporter of English football teamLeeds United[42] and the Swedishice hockey teamVäxjö Lakers.[43]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R | QF | W | NH | W | SF | QF | F | SF | F | F | SF | 4R | 2R | 2 / 13 | 56–10 | 84.85 | ||
| French Open | A | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | 4R | F | 1R | QF | 3R | QF | 1R | 2R | 4R | 0 / 13 | 30–13 | 69.77 | ||
| Wimbledon | 2R | 2R | 4R | 3R | SF | W | F | W | SF | QF | SF | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2 / 14 | 49–12 | 80.33 | ||
| US Open | 1R | 2R | 4R | SF | SF | 4R | 4R | 1R | W | W | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 2 / 14 | 43–12 | 78.18 | ||
| Win–loss | 1–3 | 6–4 | 16–3 | 8–3 | 17–3 | 18–3 | 19–3 | 13–3 | 21–3 | 19–3 | 16–4 | 8–4 | 7–4 | 9–4 | 6 / 54 | 178–47 | 79.11 | ||
| Championship | Years | Record accomplished | Player tied |
| Japan Open | 1987, 1989–1991 | 4 singles titles | Stands alone |
| No. 1 ranking | 1986–1992 | 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 |
| ATP Championship series | 1991 | 4 titles won in a single season | Boris Becker Juan Martín del Potro |
Edberg is considered by many to be one of the greatest tennis players of his era.[44] In his home country, together withMats Wilander, he is commonly regarded as the best Swedish tennis player afterBjörn Borg.
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