from Swedish Open.org

Stefan Edberg and Magnus Larsson during a doubles match in Båstad in July 2008

First day of the 66th edition of SkiStar Swedish Open offers uncountable stars in action. In the schedule we find the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the talented Swedish junior Elias Ymer, and legends like Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, and two other former world number one players together with two Olympic silver medalists.

On the same day we will see a fabulous mix of some of the tennis history’s biggest names, one of the most interesting names at the moment, and a 17 year-old talented Swede.

First to play is Elias Ymer, who could not have asked for a tougher draw in his ATP debut.

Five year older Dimitrov is a talent of extreme caliber, talent that rarely is spotted in any other sport, and with a bigger register than most established top players. He made semi-final in last year’s Båstad tournament, and he is also the most entertaining tennis player in the world among players like Roger Federer.

The Swedish Davis Cup player Markus Eriksson has not got quite as tough draw as Ymer according to the ranking, but will still be considered the underdog in his ATP debut against Martin Alund from Argentina.

Both Swedish players are followed by eight other Swedes who managed to win a total of 36 (!) Grand Slam titles during their careers, and will now face off against each other in the Legend’s Doubles.

Doubles with former superstars is a success among fans in Wimbledon, and when Legend’s Doubles now debuts in Sweden, we might find many spectators getting nostalgic and remembering the time when Sweden was the dominated nation in tennis. Younger spectators will get a chance to see players that they might only have heard about.

The prestigious competition will take place on Monday and Tuesday among the teams of Stefan Edberg/Anders Järryd, Mats Wilander/Thomas Johansson, Mikael Pernfors/Simon Aspelin, and Jonas Björkman/Magnus Gustafsson. The prize money of 25,000 Swedish Crowns will be donated to charity.

Edberg/Järryd is the only team that has competed together on the tour. The two brought home the title in 1987 in Australian Open and US Open, and managed to win a total of twelve doubles titles. It was a couple of years ago, but the teamwork between them is still there, which might compensate the fact that 52 year-old Järryd and 47 year-old Edberg is the oldest team in the competition.

We will see if experience will beat the younger players.