Stefan Edberg - Serve and Volley born out of necessity
In the current issue of "Tennis United", the Swedish all-time greats Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander chat about their experiences in Wimbledon. And also talk about their biggest disappointments there.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jul 13, 2020, 05:56 pm
Long gone are the days when the Swedish tennis men mixed up the ATP world rankings and the Davis Cup. From the mid-1980s, however, there was hardly a big event in which either Mats Wilander or Stefan Edberg (with the support of Anders Järryd and Joakim Nyström) would not have been among the big favorites for the title. Wilander on the slower surfaces, Edberg certainly on the lawn.
In the current issue of "Tennis United", Edberg and Wilander now remember not only their greatest successes on Church Road, but also their bitterest defeats. For example, Wilander, who could never win at Wimbledon, is still gnawing at the quarter-final loss to Miloslav Mecir in 1988. As a reminder: Wilander's other Grand Slam titles this year ended in first place the ATP world rankings. His only consolation at the time was that Stefan Edberg had finally won the tournament, said Wilander. This would have saved him many unpleasant questions.
Edberg loses in Paris and Wimbledon
Stefan Edberg, on the other hand, still hasn't completely digested the final bankruptcy against Boris Becker in 1989. In addition, where he had lost the final of the French Open against Michael Chang a few weeks earlier. Against his great adversary Becker, whom he defeated in the final in 1988 and 1990, he would have played very badly in that match, losing the first set 0: 6. Interestingly, the semifinals against Michael Stich in 1991 remained unmentioned: In this game Edberg never had to give up his serve in four sets - and still retired.
Incidentally, Edberg's offensive play system was also born out of necessity, Roger Federer's ex-coach elaborated. As a teenager, he would have noticed that the best way to hide his weaknesses on the backhand side was to simply storm the net after every serve.
When asked about the greatest lawn players in history, Edberg and Wilander were guided by the record winners: Wilander chose Roger Federer, whose speed of decision impressed the Swede. For Stefan Edberg, Martina Navratilova is the all-time grass queen.