Stefan Edberg

Stefan Edberg

The tennisplayer Stefan Edberg is nowadays a legend in his sport. I met him myself in France in 1987. I was 8 years old. He and the other members of the

Swedish Daviscup team were playing the Daviscup against France. However, before the training I met them in the lobby of their hotel in Fréjus. My father knew the Swedish captain of the team so we could watch them training.After that

Stefan has been one of my idols. I play tennis a lot myself. But now to the story about Stefan Edberg.

Saw the ad

His career started when the local paper in Västervik ( the town where he was born ) had an advertisement about mini-tennis in the early 70s. It said ”Day of tennis”.Luckily his mother Barbro read the article and liked it. The day after she sent her son to the tennis-school for beginners. At that time she didn't know how important this initiative would be to Stefan, to Swedish tennis and even to the world tennis. An incredible athletic career had seen the morning light. Was convinced to continue

The seven year old Stefan struck his first hits at the tennis school in the sommer of 1973. To start with he played once a week. He liked his new sport but was close to quitting after the first term. -My friend wanted to quit,and so did I. But my trainer convinced me to continue, Stefan says with a smile on his face. The young Edberg soon became taken by the sport. Soon he played matches with the boys' team, and outside his home he played fantasy Davis Cup-matches. In the sommer holidays he almost lived at the tennis court. At the age of ten he stopped playing his two other sports, football and icehockey, and concentrated everything on tennis. Soon he won his first tournament, ”Ostkustenspärla,” a very memorable victory for him.

Star even in school

But a couple of years went by before he ”dared” to go in for tennis full time.

He was in the ninth grade as took the big step and gave tennis the big chance.

-I felt I had a serious chance of becoming a worldplayer. Because I had just won JEM and taken a set on Mats Wilander who was a professional player,

Stefan says. But it couldn't have been an easy choice, because Stefan was also a very good student with an average about 4,3 after the ninth grade.

He was better than all the others!!!

The trainers at the club where he was training, Westerviks TK, quickly realized