Stefan Edberg

Sweden’s Stefan Edberg was considered one of the greatest ever pure serve-and-volley players. Edberg won six Grand Slam singles titles and three doubles titles during his career. He was ranked world number one in both singles and doubles, the only man other than John McEnroe to achieve this in the Open Era. Edberg finished his career with more than $20 million in prize money.

Edberg’s impressive career started in 1983 when he won all four Grand Slam junior titles. After turning professional, Edberg’s first ATP wins came in 1984 with a singles victory at the Milan Indoor tournament, and a doubles victory at the Hamburg European Open. He went on to win 41 singles and 18 doubles titles on the ATP tour. Edberg’s first of three Olympic appearances came when he won the singles title at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. However, tennis was a demonstration sport at the time and no medals were awarded.

In 1985 Edberg won his first of six Grand Slam singles titles when he won the Australian Open. He would win the Australian Open again in 1987, followed by wins at Wimbledon (1988, 1990), and the US Open (1991, 1992). He never won the French Open but he did reach the final in 1989, losing to Michael Chang. Edberg also had success in the doubles with victory at the Australian Open (1987, 1996), and the US Open (1987). He reached the final of the 1986 French Open and was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1987.

Edberg competed in the singles and doubles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, winning the bronze medal in each of them. For the doubles tournament he was paired with Anders Järryd. Edberg and Järryd would team up again for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but they could not repeat their success, losing in the first round. Edberg was also the flag bearer for Sweden at the Opening Ceremony of the 1992 Games.

Edberg retired from professional tennis in 1996 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004. From January 2014 to December 2015, he was the coach of Roger Federer.