35 years later: When Swedish was the official language on the tour
Tennis seems to work in cycles. After a high for a nation comes a bear market. Ask the Swedes about it.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Dec 24, 2021, 06:22 pm
Even if one could just get the impression that the Russian men dominate the tennis sport in general, times will come again in which no Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Aslan Karatsev are among the top 20. And with Karen Khachanov in position 29, the next Russian is just waiting. Ask the Swedes who were represented in the top group of world tennis 35 years ago with a remarkable team. And now? The brothers Elias and Mikael Ymer hold the Swedish flag high, if not particularly high: Mikael is 94th on the ATP charts, Elias is only 170.
In 1986, however, the path to the big titles led almost exclusively through Wilander, Edberg and Co .. The memory of it has now fertilized a Russian veteran of all people: Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who presented his friend Brad Gilbert's annual accounts from 35 years ago. At that time, the ranking was led by Ivan Lendl, ahead of Boris Becker.
Wilander and Edberg with different styles
But then it gets very Scandinavian. In third place follows Mats Wilander, the then still young strategist with the patience of a Nepalese monk. Two ranks behind: Stefan Edberg, who was supposed to win at Wimbledon in 1988 and 1990, should be located on the other side of Wilander's spectrum in terms of the play area. Edberg has set up his second home on the net, Wilander two meters behind the baseline.
Joakim Nyström followed as the year’s seventh, and he too was more of a man who knew how to distinguish himself from far behind.
In 1986, Mikael Pernfors, the man with the mohawk and whipped forehand, who reached the final in Roland Garros that season, landed in twelfth place. Immediately behind him sand court hustler Kent Carlsson, who with his extreme western forehand grip produced generations of imitators. However, all of them failed, especially at the lowest amateur level.
Noah and Leconte also in the top field in 1986
And don't forget: Anders Järryd also ended the year among the top 20 players in the world. Järryd not only played a terrific double, but especially with Stefan Edberg at the beginning, but also won eight titles in singles (there were 58 in doubles!). Of course, Anders Järryd remembered the unique serve movement - which, unlike most of his colleagues, started with a raised bat.
Great times for Sweden. But even a second nation was much more likely to dream of a Grand Slam victory in singles: France! Yannick Noah was ranked fourth at the end of 1986, Henri Leconte followed two positions behind. However, history shows: At Leconte, this dream was always unfulfilled. After all, Noah had struck Roland Garros as early as 1983.
The French are doing better than Swedes at the moment. The next major champion is not yet in sight. And to save the honor of the Swedes: after the Edberg / Wilander generation, Magnus Norman, Robin Söderling and Jonas Björkman also made it to the top of the world.