from The London Evening Standard
by Chris Jones

Murray will miss remainder of season including the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London

Stefan Edberg approves Andy Murray's decision to take a break from the game and undergo back surgey and reveals that he himself had a knee surgery ten days ago

Stefan Edberg, who battled back problems throughout tennis career that brought him six Grand Slam titles, believes Andy Murray is right to opt for back surgery that will side-line him for the rest of the year.

Murray’s has been hampered by his back problems all season and if forced me to miss the French Open although he recovered to win Wimbledon  - his second Grand Slam title following the 2012 US Open triumph.

However, the back issue has refused to go away forcing Murray to have a minor operation on Monday that will mean his misses the Shaghai and Paris Masters events and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London in November.

Edberg, who has just undergone a knee operation, said: ”I had a lot of problems with my lower back in my career and although I learned some exercises and treatment to keep it under control, it flared up from time to time.

“I was forced to retire and withdraw from a couple of matches because of it, including the quarterfinals of the Australian Open against Thomas Muster. I didn't have to have a surgery - I had some scans which revealed that there was some damage but not enough  to undergo surgery - that is not a decision you take lightly because it means you will be out of the sport for a while - it can take a lot of time to recover.

from ATP World Tour.com

The ATP Heritage programme, a special by the ATP World Tour website celebrating the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the computer rankings, recalls Stefan Edberg's two seasons as year-end world number one with a short interview to the Swede, who talks about the meaning of such an achievement.

Stefan Edberg was one of the greatest serve-and-volley exponents in tennis history, a possessor of an elegant backhand and a cool and analytical mind. Like John McEnroe, he reached the top in singles and doubles.

Edberg first captured the attention of the tennis world in 1983, when he completed a junior Grand Slam of the four major championships. Before the age of 19, the Swede had won his first ATP World Tour title and also the singles competition as a demonstration sport at the 1984 Olympic Games.

Edberg was the eighth player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings to become No. 1 on 13 August 1990, following a quarter-final win over Michael Chang in the Western & Southern Open at Cincinnati. With his coach, Tony Pickard, Edberg remembers, "We had a little champagne that night. It was unusual. We just had a little."

from Västerviks Tidningen
by Filip Johansson
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg's picture dominates Friday's edition of Västerviks Tidningen, Västervik's daily

He is the most successful athlete of all time from Västervik - and still offers tennis of high class. No wonder Stefan Edberg aroused such interest in Thursday's Ostkustens Pärla, where he was to watch his son Christopher’s matches.

Three guys throw themselves on the couches in front of the windows before the indoor tennis courts. Curiously peeking as if some childhood friends were playing a doubles match. They have probably never looked so interested in a tennis match. He still raises a lot of interest, Stefan Edberg.

When he finished playing the annual game with Lars Nilsson, Lars Svensson and Jonas Karlsson, showered and ready, he also signed autographs for a couple of girls.

- It does not happen so often nowadays, it’s diminishing over the years. But they are usually nice and kind, the ones that come up, it's okay, he says.

He has come back to the childhood town and on the Ostkustens Pärla especially to follow his son, Christopher, 16, who competes in the men's singles and men's doubles B. In the men's singles B, he has won two matches and will play the semifinals today, Friday.

- Tennis is mostly a hobby for him, but now he has started to play more and more. He has many friends in tennis, and so, before there was much football and hockey, says Stefan about his son, who is ranked 31st in his age group in Sweden.

He gets a lot of attention around him, given your career in tennis. Is it tough?

- Yes, it's not so easy. But I think he handles it just fine.

Christopher himself graciously, but firmly, declines an interview. So it has almost always been, according to father Stefan, who also has a daughter.

from BBC Sports

Stefan Edberg interviewed by Sky Sports in Wimbledon 2013

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is still improving and can triumph at his home Grand Slam again, according to two-time winner Stefan Edberg. The 47-year-old also thinks Briton Murray, 26, can become world number one after his victory over Novak Djokovic. Swede Edberg won six Grand Slams, including Wimbledon twice with defeats of Boris Becker in 1988 and 1990.

"I believe Murray can still win a lot more Slams. He's good enough and young enough," Edberg told BBC Radio 5 live. "He's got a few really good years ahead of him."

Murray's 6-4 7-5 6-4 victory at the All England Club gave him his second Grand Slam title following his win in the US Open final, also against current world number one Djokovic, in September 2012.

from tennismagazin
by Andrej Antic
contributed by La Zingara
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

The silent player from Västervik was his nickname. But with tennismagazin Stefan Edberg had a lot to say: about his game, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, his rivalry with Boris Becker and the euro.

A meeting with Stefan Edberg is first of all a trip down memory lane. You have to think of a fabulous serve and volley player, the duels against Boris Becker at Wimbledon and a fair and always friendly sportsman. Nice, the Swede is still, as we meet him in the lounge of the Wald Hotel in Stuttgart. In the evening he plays a show match against Goran Ivanisevic at the inauguration of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (see page 90). "The hip tweaks a little, I can not serve so good," he says a few hours later, when he wins the match, but it's hardly noticeable. After the interview with tennismagazin he goes to his room and takes his Wilson Pro Staff Six.One racquet with a worn leather grip. We have asked him in the hotel to give us a demonstration of his shots. "No problem," Edberg says, and conjures a few volleys in jeans and with a Retro sports jacket.

Mr. Edberg, you look in top shape. Do you still play often?
Yes, I try to play three times a week for 45 minutes. I think I still hit the ball quite well.

Your younger compatriots are not hitting that well. Do you know where the best Swede is currently ranked?
At 400. His name is Patrik Rosenholm.

He's exactly at place 391. What is actually happening in Swedish tennis?
Hard to say. There are many sports, competing with tennis. We have still tennis courts, built in the course of Björn Borg's boom. They are usually crowded. Previously, a court was enough for two or three talents, today four or five share a court, at the expense of quality. Sponsors have also become more difficult to find. We have lost the momentum. What I think is positive: there are a few strong 17-year-old guys. I see a chance that they can make room in the top 50. But it may take some years.

by Laura Hollom

Stefan Edberg in the Royal Box at the Centre Court in Wimbledon with Tony Pickard and Roger Federer's parents

After watching Roger Federer play on Centre court Stefan Edberg was interviewed by John Inverdale of the BBC. He started off by asking Stefan about his memories of being back at Wimbledon. He said that it brought back many happy memories of the good years at Wimbledon.

Being brought up in Sweden watching Borg win 5 titles was amazing and when he first came to Wimbledon it was the first time he'd seen a grass court .He remembers when he first arrived seeing all the open space and grass courts and feeling the atmosphere was a huge thing at the time. Reminiscing about his first match in the juniors in which he played Boris Becker in the first round, he won that match and in the main draw he then lost in the second round to Henrik Sundstrom. It was then pointed out that it was an amazing synergy that he would play Boris in the juniors and then have his amazing rivalry with him in the years that followed, with the 3 consecutive finals that they both played. He said that Boris was a tough competitor and that he had to play his very best tennis to beat him.

from TennisBest.com
by Riccardo Bisti
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello (read the original article in Italian)

Meeting one's idol after 20 years of passion. We would have loved to measure Mauro Cappiello's heart beats when, some ten days ago, he was about to shake hands with Stefan Edberg. The event happened at the tournament of Halle, where the former Swedish champion played a show-match with Michael Stich, Martina Navratilova and Anastasia Myskina. Cappiello left Italy for a trip to Westphalia, where he was given a red carpet treatment. Even without press credential, the tournament staff allowed him to attend the press conference and to meet Edberg. There was a brief chat and the delivery of a plaque with the screenshot of the site http://stefanstennis.free.fr. Historical site, that Cappiello created and runs tirelessly. It's a community of fans of the great Swedish champion, whose retirement is outdated (he quit playing in 1996), but did not extinguish the passion of those who continue to follow him day after day, event after event. "Stefan did not know the site, he appreciated and laughed when he saw me. I wore the Adidas outfit he had when he won the Australian Open in 1987", says Cappiello, 32 years old, 20 of which spent to root for the Swede. A bombproof passion, because he could follow in person only the last years of Edberg's career, for obvious... anagraphical reasons. «Oh yes, I was too young». His passion for the Blond Angel started between 1990 and 1991 and accompanied him up to now.

Stefan Edberg interviewed in Hannover

At the 16th passive house conference in Hannover, Stefan Edberg was interviewed on his low environmental impact tennis hall project in Växjö. The arena, that will be the first internationally certified passive tennis hall, will be ready this summer, will have four courts and will be almost completely made in wood.

Stefan Edberg is part of this initiative, financed by the Swedish company Södra, along with former Davis Cup captain Carl-Axel Hakeskog and former top ten player from Sweden Magnus Larsson. The project was made after a contest among two hundred architects. You can watch the interview to Stefan below.

by Mauro Cappiello

Filip Bergevi with Stefan Edberg in Zurich

Blond and shy, Filip Bergevi doesn’t look much too different from most of the Swedes that flooded the ATP Tour in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Just ten days ago he turned 18 and, at the moment, he’s one of the most promising Vikings. We reached him through Facebook in March. He was in Zurich, where he played “junior-senior doubles” along with Stefan Edberg. In this interview we wanted to discover more about one of the future protagonists of Swedish and, hopefully, world tennis. And, last but not least, to have his impressions on Stefan…

Filip, tell us what kind of experience is playing with some of the tennis legends in the same event.

Of course it is a great experience and a lot of fun. To play with a legend and a player that has been no.1 in the world is amazing.

from South China Morning Post.com
by Antonia Windsor

Sven Goran Eriksson and Stefan Edberg in Lagos

Football, freshseafood and fabulous beaches are waiting to be discovered in the often overlooked region of Western Algarve.

High up on an ochre cliff overlooking the cobalt blue Atlantic Ocean stands a stately hotel. In the quiet grounds of manicured lawns and palm trees all seems restful. A woman lolls on a white lounger, her image reflected in the still swimming pool, and a waiter arrives with a tray of ice-cold refreshments. But just a minute away from this tranquil scene is a very different sight. More than a dozen men in training whites are working up a sweat on a full-sized football pitch.

Lounging is the last thing on their minds. Cascade, just outside Lagos in the Western Algarve region of Portugal, is no ordinary five-star hotel. The resort offers facilities for relaxation, including a spa and gourmet restaurant, but also several sports academies, a gym and a medical centre staffed to treat any sporting injuries that might occur.

The football academy is headed by Sweden's Sven-Göran Eriksson. "Swiss businessman Urs Wild presented the idea to me," says Eriksson. "He had run hotels in the region before, but was keen to do something different and came up with the idea of a hotel with professional facilities for football, golf and tennis. I jumped on it." This winter the first professional teams arrived to take advantage of the facilities.