Stefan Edberg - "A huge difference whether you are a winner or a finalist"
Looking back over 50 years of ATP Finals, Stefan Edberg commented on his triumph in 1989 in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Nov 25, 2020, 08:26 am
1989 was not a good year according to Stefan Edberg's standards: the great Swede had reached the French Open final for the first (and ultimately only) time, but lost it as a favorite against Michael Chang. A few weeks later Edberg got the next chance for a major title, but went down in the Wimbledon final against Boris Becker.
"If you have a season in which you lose a lot of finals, that sticks in your head," said Edberg in an interview with the ATP website. "In tennis there is a huge difference between being a winner or a finalist."
Edberg nevertheless managed to qualify for the ATP final tournament in New York City. And lost again to Becker in the group stage. “That wasn't the end of the world,” Edberg continued. “But a defeat is a defeat.” The only thing that counts is qualification for the semi-finals. Stefan Edberg also succeeded.
Edberg against Lendl always with chances
There it came to the key match against Ivan Lendl. “Playing against Ivan Lendl at Madison Square Garden was probably one of the most difficult tasks ever. But I always knew when I went out onto the pitch with Ivan: If I could use my play system really, really well, then I always had a chance against him. "
Stefan Edberg took advantage of this - and met Boris Becker again in the final of the season-end tournament. In the middle of the second set he would have felt that he was slowly getting the match under control. And at some point he hit the match. A feeling that you only have when playing tennis.
The four-set success against Becker was also a turning point in his career, so Edberg. Because in the following year he won his second title at Wimbledon. And finally number one in the ATP world rankings in August. However, Stefan Edberg could not defend his title as unofficial ATP world champion: In 1990, in the first year in Frankfurt, he reached the final again, but lost to Andre Agassi there.