Since last October, "När vi var bäst", the book on the glory days of Swedish tennis by Mats Holm and Ulf Roosvald is available in English. The work, translated by Cecilia Palmcrantz, was published by the New York based house Skyhorse Publishing with the title "Björn Borg and the Super-Swedes. Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander and the Golden Era of Tennis".

Written in 2014, the volume had raised huge interest in Sweden, where the audience were keen to know how a relatively small country could dominate the world of tennis for more than two decades and then go back to the disasters of nowadays, when not a single player from the land of Borg can be found in the top 100 of the ATP men's rankings.

An Italian translation come out in bookstores in May 2016 (add editore) with the title "Game, Set, Match. Borg, Edberg e Wilander, la Svezia del grande tennis" had showed how the golden age of Sweden was also missed abroad and maybe encouraged an English edition, that is definitely giving an international dimension to this literary case in sports narrative.

The official website of Västervik Tennis Club announced last week that Bengt Edberg, Stefan's father, passed away aged 86.

A retired policeman, Bengt had been in the management of the tennis association in Stefan's home town with several roles since the '70s, when his two children had started playing right there, and then in the '80s. The club specified that the sad event had happened two weeks before, but initially kept private.

We want to extend our deepest condolences to Stefan and his family from our website STE...fans and our entire community of fans.

Here's the note from the club translated into English. You can read the original version here.

Last weekend was a special one in the Uk with the whole country (and not only) mobilized for the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle.

Coinciding with this event, Wimbledon decided to officially open its doors for the first time this year.

Some former tournament champions and members of the All England Club were invited to inaugurate and test the courts for the 2018 edition, which will take place between July 2nd and 15th at SW19.

Among the tennis celebrities we can see in the pictures and video below, shared on the Youtube channel of the Championships, were Stefan Edberg, Martina Navratilova and Marion Bartoli.

from The Times.co.uk

Stefan Edberg had wonderful variation on his backhand and Times readers have spoken: the six-times grand slam winner has won the vote for best backhand in tennis history.

The Swede, who twice won Wimbledon, swept 43 per cent of the vote holding off competition from Stan Wawrinka, who was backed by 34 per cent of voters. Other nominees Andre Agassi (13 per cent), Andy Murray (nine per cent) and Garbiñe Muguruza (one per cent) were left trailing.

Edberg’s backhand was nominated by Boris Becker, the six-times grand slam champion who faced Edberg in no fewer than four grand-slam finals, and many of the voters were in agreement with the German.

Times reader Lucy Hickmet wrote at the thetimes.co.uk: "Aesthetically, Edberg had the nicest backhand I have ever seen, and to Becker’s point, he had a lot of variations, including touch shots such as the lob."

from ATP World Tour.com
by Craig O'Shannessy

Infosys ATP Beyond the Numbers proves the Swede was more than a serve-volley expert in his stellar 1991 season

Stefan Edberg was a masterful server. He was an even better returner. The 1991 season is a distant 26 years ago, but the numbers the cool, calm and calculated Swede put up that year on the returning side of the game still greatly impress to this day.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Edberg’s 1991 season highlights a player who conquered the year­end No. 1 ranking primarily on the return side of the equation. The 1991 season was the first year complete statistics were recorded in tennis, providing an interesting snapshot of what was going on in our game more than 25 years ago. It is subsequently the initial year recorded in the year­end No. 1s ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS, powered by the Infosys Information Platform.

We remember Edberg as an accomplished serve­volley player who also attacked the net behind his ultra­flat forehand and heavy slice backhand. His pinpoint volleys were majestic, and his stoic, imperturbable demeanor was a delight to watch.

Stefan Edberg's forehand volley at the 1993 Australian Open

from Reuters

It was John McEnroe who summed it up best. "You did it old school," he told Mischa Zverev after the German had beaten Andy Murray on Sunday.

Zverev's stunning upset of the top seed in the fourth round of the Australian Open was indeed a throwback to the days of the 1980s, when sticking to the baseline was something reserved only for clay courts.

"It was really impressive to watch," Pat Cash, who won Wimbledon in 1987, told reporters on Monday.

"To see a guy serve-volley on second serve and beat the world number one, who is allegedly one of the best returners and best passers of all time, and just get knotted up and not even able to hit a passing shot."

by Mauro Cappiello

More than 20 years after Stefan Edberg’s retirement from tennis, his official profile on the ATP World Tour website is finally correct.

Right on his birthday, I managed to make myself heard by the ATP on an incredible mistake that was still there in the “Bio” section of his page.

Believe it or not, until four days ago, Stefan was only acknowledged 8 and not 9 Grand Slam trophies between singles and doubles. His last title, clinched in 1996 with Petr Korda in the Australian Open doubles event, had been left out of his record, probably lost in the digital translation of his biography edited by Bud Collins.

The Australian Open has started yesterday and, as announced a few months ago, the tournament has got a new logo that, after 21 years, replaced the "serving man", according to many modelled on Stefan Edberg's service action.

From a quick poll conducted by Huffington Post Australia, though, a great majority of fans are not enthusiast about the new branding image of the event, that was heavily criticized on the social networks as soon as it appeared last early October.

Contacted by The Huffington Post Australia, Nick Davis, general manager of Landor, the agency that designed the new logo, said that a negative reaction was expected.

The European School of Economics shared on its official Facebook channel a clip of the event in which Stefan Edberg received a special Sportsmanship Award last September 10th in Florence.

The Swede had been invited by ESE president and founder Mr. Elio D'Anna to the gala dinner held at Palazzo Borghese to celebrate the graduated students for academic year 2016. Stefan's daughter Emilie has herself attended the school in 2013.

In his acceptance speech, Stefan recalled his first career title, won right in Italy at the Cuore Cup in Milan in 1984. Then he talked about his current activities in Sweden and about his coaching experience with Roger Federer.

From next year, Milan will be the home of a new season-end ATP event dedicated to the young generation, called Next Gen Masters. The top seven ranked under 21 tennis players plus a wild card will compete at the Fiera Milano venue from November 7th to 11th for the title of best junior of the year.

The news was given yesterday in a media conference in London, during the ATP World Tour Finals, by ATP World Tour CEO Chris Kermode, joined by 18-year-old American Frances Tiafoe and Stefan Edberg.