Stefan Edberg

 

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Stefan Edberg

Country	Sweden
Residence	Växjö, Sweden
Date of birth	January 19 1966 (1966--) (age 41)
Place of birth	Västervik, Sweden
Height	m ({{FORMATNUM:6 ft 1+1⁄2 in}})
Weight	77 kg (169 lb)
Turned Pro	1983
Retired	1996
Plays	Right; One-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	$20,630,941
Singles
Career record:	806-270 (74.9%)
Career titles:	42
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (August 13, 1990)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (1985, 1987)
French Open	F (1989)
Wimbledon	W (1988, 1990)
U.S. Open	W (1991, 1992)
Doubles
Career record:	283-153
Career titles:	18
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (June 9, 1986)
Infobox last updated on: August 19, 2006.

Olympic medal record
Men's Tennis
Bronze	1988 Seoul	Singles
Bronze	1988 Seoul	Doubles

Stefan Bengt Edberg (born January 19, 1966 in Västervik, Sweden) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player (in both singles and doubles play) from Sweden. During his career, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam doubles titles. Edberg is well known as one of the best serve and volley players of all time, for his superb volleying skills, and as a gentleman and ambassador for the sport.

Career

Edberg first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior player. He won all four of the Grand Slam junior titles in 1983 to become the first-ever player to achieve the "Junior Grand Slam."

As a professional, Edberg won his first career doubles title in Basel in 1983 and his first top-level singles title at Milan in 1984.

Edberg's first two Grand Slam singles titles came at the Australian Open. In 1985, he defeated Mats Wilander in straight sets to claim his first major title. Two years later, he beat Pat Cash in five sets to win the last Australian Open held on grass courts. Edberg also won the Australian Open and U.S. Open men's doubles titles in 1987 (partnering fellow-Swede Anders Järryd).

In 1988, Edberg reached the first of three consecutive finals at Wimbledon. In all three finals, he played Boris Becker. Edberg won their first encounter in a four-set match spread over three 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.

Edberg claimed the World No. 1 ranking in August 1990 by winning the Cincinnati Masters. He held it for the rest of that year and for much of 1991 and 1992.

Edberg's final two Grand Slam singles triumphs came at the U.S. 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's last Grand Slam singles final appearances were at the Australian Open, where he lost in four sets to Jim Courier in both 1992 and 1993.

In 1996, Edberg won his third Grand Slam doubles title at Australian Open with Petr Korda.

The only Grand Slam singles title Edberg never won was the French Open. He 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.

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).

Edberg also played on four Swedish Davis Cup winning teams in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1994. He appeared in seven Davis Cup finals—a record for a Swedish player.

Edberg was also a member of the Swedish teams that won the World Team Cup in 1988, 1991, and 1995.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where tennis was a demonstration sport, Edberg won the men's singles gold medal. Four years later, at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, tennis became a full medal sport and Edberg won bronze medals in both the men's singles and the men's doubles.

During his career, Edberg won a total of 42 top-level singles titles and 18 doubles titles and appeared in a then record 54 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments (since then broken by Wayne Ferreira) ^[1]. He was ranked the World No. 1 for a total of 72 weeks. Edberg was also a five-time recipient of the Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) Sportsmanship Award (1988-90, 1992, and 1995). In recognition of this achievement, the ATP renamed the award the "Edberg Sportsmanship Award" in 1996. In 2004, Edberg was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.

Records

• Edberg won singles titles in 12 different countries: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
• Edberg was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1990.
• Edberg was involved in a freak accident during the boys' singles final at the 1983 U.S. Open, when Richard Wertheim, a linesman, was struck in the groin by a ball struck by Edberg. Wertheim fell backwards, fracturing his skull, and died in hospital shortly thereafter.^[2]
• Edberg was a childhood hero of current World No. 1 Roger Federer.
• Edberg is one of the few players who reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments, winning three of them. In the 1989 French Open final, Edberg lead the match by two sets to one over Michael Chang and had numerous break points throughout the fourth and fifth sets. He eventually led the match by a break in the fifth set but could not win it.
• Edberg won several Grand Slam matches after being down a break of service in the fifth and deciding set. Notable examples include the 1988 Wimbledon semifinal against Miloslav Mečíř, the 1989 French Open semifinal against Boris Becker, and the 1990 Wimbledon final against Becker. In the 1992 U.S. Open, Edberg did it in three consecutive matches, against Richard Krajicek in the round of 16, Ivan Lendl in the quarterfinals, and Chang in the semifinals.
• Edberg's distinctive serve is used as the logo for the Australian Open.
• Edberg is a supporter of English football team Leeds United

Career finals

Grand Slam singles finals (11)

Wins (6)

Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1985	Australian Open	Grass	Mats Wilander	6-4, 6-3, 6-3
1987	Australian Open (2)	Grass	Pat Cash	6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3
1988	Wimbledon	Grass	Boris Becker	4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2
1990	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Boris Becker	6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4
1991	U.S. Open	Hard	Jim Courier	6-2, 6-4, 6-0
1992	U.S. Open (2)	Hard	Pete Sampras	3-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2

Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1989	French Open	Clay	Michael Chang	6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
1989	Wimbledon	Grass	Boris Becker	6-0, 7-6, 6-4
1990	Australian Open	Hard	Ivan Lendl	4-6, 7-6, 5-2 retired
1992	Australian Open	Hard	Jim Courier	6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
1993	Australian Open	Hard	Jim Courier	6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5

Grand Slam men's doubles finals

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score/Final
1987	Australian Open	Grass	Anders Järryd	Peter Doohan Laurie Warder	6-4, 6-4, 7-6
1987	U.S. Open	Hard	Anders Järryd	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6
1996	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Petr Korda	Alex O'Brien Sébastien Lareau	7-5, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score/Final
1984	U.S. Open	Hard	Anders Järryd	John Fitzgerald Tomáš Šmíd	7-6, 6-3, 6-3
1986	French Open	Clay	Anders Järryd	John Fitzgerald Tomáš Šmíd	6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 14-12

Masters Series singles finals (9)

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1990	Indian Wells	Andre Agassi	6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6
1990	Cincinnati	Brad Gilbert	6-1, 6-1
1990	Paris	Boris Becker	3-3 Ret.
1992	Hamburg	Michael Stich	5-7, 6-4, 6-1

Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1990	Key Biscane	Andre Agassi	6-1, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
1990	Stockholm	Boris Becker	6-4, 6-0, 6-3
1991	Stockholm	Boris Becker	3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
1993	Cincinnati	Michael Chang	7-5, 0-6, 6-4
1994	Cincinnati	Michael Chang	6-2, 7-5

All finals

Singles

Wins (42)

Legend Grand Slam (6) Tennis Masters Cup (1) Olympic Gold Medal (1) ATP Masters Series (4) Grand Prix (30)

Titles by Surface Hard (23) Grass (5) Clay (3) Carpet (11)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	25 March, 1984	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Mats Wilander	6-4, 6-2
2.	16 September, 1984	Los Angeles Olympics, U.S.	Hard	Francisco Maciel	6-1, 7-6
3.	4 February, 1985	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Yannick Noah	6-1, 6-0
4.	30 September, 1985	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Johan Kriek	6-4, 6-2
5.	21 October, 1985	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Yannick Noah	6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-1
6.	9 December, 1985	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Mats Wilander	6-4, 6-3, 6-3
7.	14 July, 1986	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Roland Stadler	7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
8.	20 October, 1986	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Yannick Noah	7-6, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6
9.	10 November, 1986	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Mats Wilander	6-2, 6-1, 6-1
10.	26 January, 1987	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Pat Cash	6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3
11.	16 February, 1987	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Jimmy Connors	6-3, 2-1, ret.
12.	23 March, 1987	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	John McEnroe	3-6, 6-3, 6-1
13.	20 April, 1987	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	David Pate	7-6, 6-4
14.	24 August, 1987	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Boris Becker	6-4, 6-1
15.	26 October, 1987	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	6-7, 6-4, 6-4
16.	9 November, 1987	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Jonas Svensson	7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
17.	15 February, 1988	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Miloslav Mečíř	7-6, 6-2
18.	4 July, 1988	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Boris Becker	4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2
19.	10 October, 1988	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Jakob Hlasek	7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
20.	24 April, 1989	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-3, 2-6, 6-4
21.	4 December, 1989	Masters, New York	Carpet	Boris Becker	4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1
22.	12 March, 1990	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6
23.	16 April, 1990	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Aaron Krickstein	6-4, 7-5
24.	9 July, 1990	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Boris Becker	6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4
25.	6 August, 1990	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Michael Chang	7-6, 2-6, 7-6
26.	13 August, 1990	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Brad Gilbert	6-1, 6-1
27.	27 August, 1990	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Goran Ivanišević	7-6, 6-3
28.	5 November, 1990	Paris, France	Carpet	Boris Becker	3-3, ret.
29.	25 February, 1991	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet	Jonas Svensson	6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
30.	15 April, 1991	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-1, 7-5, 6-0
31.	17 June, 1991	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	David Wheaton	6-2, 6-3
32.	9 September, 1991	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Jim Courier	6-2, 6-4, 6-0
33.	7 October, 1991	Sydney Indoor, U.S.	Hard (i)	Brad Gilbert	6-2, 6-2, 6-2
34.	14 October, 1991	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Derrick Rostagno	6-3, 1-6, 6-2
35.	11 May, 1992	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Michael Stich	5-7, 6-4, 6-1
36.	24 August, 1992	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	MaliVai Washington	7-6, 6-1
37.	14 September, 1992	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Pete Sampras	3-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2
38.	6 August, 1993	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	6-3, 6-3, 6-2
39.	10 January, 1994	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Paul Haarhuis	6-3, 6-2
40.	21 February, 1994	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet	Goran Ivanišević	4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
41.	25 July, 1994	Washington D.C., U.S.	Hard	Jason Stoltenberg	6-4, 6-2
42.	9 January, 1995	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Magnus Larsson	7-6, 6-1

Runner-ups (36)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	22 July, 1985	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Mats Wilander	6-1, 6-0
2.	23 September, 1985	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Paul Annacone	7-6, 6-7, 7-6
3.	9 February, 1986	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Brad Gilbert	7-5, 7-6
4.	18 August, 1986	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Boris Becker	6-4, 3-6, 6-3
5.	22 September, 1986	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	John McEnroe	6-2, 6-3
6.	27 October, 1986	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Boris Becker	7-6, 6-1
7.	23 February, 1987	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Boris Becker	6-4, 6-4, 7-5
8.	3 August, 1987	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Joakim Nyström	4-6, 6-0, 6-3
9.	17 August, 1987	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-4, 7-6
10.	28 September, 1987	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	David Pate	6-4, 6-4
11.	10 April, 1988	Dallas WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Boris Becker	6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
12.	18 April, 1988	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	John McEnroe	6-2, 6-2
13.	13 June, 1988	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Boris Becker	6-1, 3-6, 6-3
14.	22 August, 1988	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Mats Wilander	3-6, 7-6, 7-6
15.	13 March, 1989	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6-2, 6-3
16.	12 June, 1989	French Open, Paris	Clay	Michael Chang	6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
17.	10 July, 1989	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Boris Becker	6-0, 7-6, 6-4
18.	21 August, 1989	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Brad Gilbert	6-4, 2-6, 7-6
19.	9 October, 1989	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Jim Courier	7-6, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-5
20.	6 November, 1989	Paris, France	Carpet	Boris Becker	6-4, 6-3, 6-3
21.	29 January, 1990	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard