from ATP Champions Tour.com
by David Law

Australian Open semi-finalist Wayne Ferreira will replace Stefan Edberg in the Statoil Masters Tennis line-up after the Swede was forced to withdraw from the event after undergoing knee surgery.

Ferreira will join Group A of the Legends tournament alongside defending champion John McEnroe and two-time French Open champion, Sergi Bruguera. Group B sees last year's runner-up Mats Wilander up against Henri Leconte and Jeremy Bates.

Edberg will still attend the event, to speak to spectators on the court, sign autographs and meet sponsors, but is very disappointed not to be able to play.

"I am very sorry not to be able to take part in the Statoil Masters Tennis. Unfortunately my knee has not recovered quickly enough after knee surgery," said Edberg. "The Royal Albert Hall is an incredible venue and the spectators make it a wonderful atmosphere, and although I will still visit this year, I hope that I can return to play in future years."

from ATP Champions Tour.com

Goran Ivanisevic and Pat Rafter will bring back memories of their classic 2001 Wimbledon final after being drawn together in the round-robin stages of the Statoil Masters Tennis, an IMG event, at the Royal Albert Hall, 4th-8th December.

In an official launch party at the Grosvenor House Appartments by Jumeirah, the full order of play for the week was revealed, with John McEnroe scheduled to face two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera on Thursday evening, and then former World No.1 Mats Wilander on Friday night.

McEnroe leads the Legends tournament, with Stefan Edberg, Henri Leconte and Jeremy Bates also taking part. In the ATP Champions Tour event, Rafter and Ivanisevic have been drawn with Greg Rusedski, and Tim Henman, Mark Philippoussis and Fabrice Santoro feature in the other group.

Henman, Rusedski, Philippoussis and the ever-popular Mansour Bahrami will star in a Grand Opening Night with a percentage of hospitality sales going to Best Beginnings, the child health charity.

The singles players at the Statoil Masters Tennis have won 25 Grand Slam singles titles between them, four of them have reached No.1 in the world, and eight of them have been on Davis Cup winning teams.

In the latest edition of the Kings of Tennis he beat John McEnroe in the final and was crowned as the new king of the tournament. In March, Stefan Edberg will be back in Stockholm, ready to defend his title.

The former world number one and winner of six singles Grand Slam tournaments is the second tennis giant to be ready to play in next year's event, which, as always, is part of the ATP Champions Tour. Previously, Mats Wilander declared he will return to the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre to compete for the title.

Four more names will be presented in the next months for the tournament that will be played from March 11th to 14th.

Ticket sale will start next Monday, Oct. 21 on kingsoftennis.se. The tournament Facebook page announced a free-ticket competition that will be held shortly.

from ATP Champions Tour.com
by David Law

Stefan Edberg and Pat Rafter during a funny action at the 2009 Royal Albert Hall Masters final in London

Two-time Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg will return to London in December to play in the Statoil Masters Tennis, an IMG event, at the Royal Albert Hall.

Edberg, who reached the final and lost a thrilling Albert Hall clash to Pat Rafter in 2009, will join Rafter, John McEnroe, Goran Ivanisevic and Tim Henman in the ever-popular pre-Christmas tennis event played 4th - 8th December.

"I am very excited to be coming back to play in the Statoil Masters Tennis at the Royal albert Hall," said Edberg. "It is one of the most beautiful arenas in the world and I feel very lucky to have the chance to play against John McEnroe and the other great champions in front of a great crowd in London."

Stefan Edberg, along with 12 time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and former World n.1 Ana Ivanovic, will be one of the 16 scheduled pros to play in this year’s Necker Cup, a five-day, world class Pro-Am Tennis Event on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island in The British Virgin Islands.

This year’s event is scheduled for November 12-16th. Sixteen ATP / WTA Tour Players/Legends paired up with sixteen amateur take part in the tennis event and a handicapped scoring format makes it competitive for every player. Teams consist of one pro and up to two amateurs. The winning team in each bracket earns the chance to play in the Necker Cup Finals.

During the tennis event a Tennis Camp is held, called WTT Legends Camp, in partnership with the World Team Tennis. Three days of on court instruction with clinics led by Murphy Jensen, Wayne Bryan and other World Team Tennis Pros.

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.

from Swedish Open.org
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd inaugurate the Swedish Open in Båstad in July 2010

Four former world number ones, two Olympic silver medalists and 37 Grand Slam titles. This is about nothing but the highest tennis nobility in Legends Doubles as determined under SkiStar Swedish Open.  Not only the ATP tournament in Båstad showcases many of today's top players, but on July 8th and 9th the audience will also be receive great entertainment from a number of the biggest stars of all time.

Doubles tournaments with former stars rise great success during the four Grand Slam events, and, although much focus is just on entertainment, the players are still very high standard, which ensures good games and close matches.

Now that the Legends Doubles premieres in Sweden, it is about a rarely seen star parade with former world number ones Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander at the top.

from Hd.se
by Mattias Friberg
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd during an exhibition in Båstad in 2010

Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Jonas Bjorkman and five other Swedish legends. The Swedish Open gets spiced up with a special doubles tournament.

In recent years the Swedish Open has offered evening tennis, a tournament called Sunset-tennis, but this year there will be no that kind of evenings.

"It's a little too risky with the weather, so we are supposed to have a legends tournament, instead", says tournament director Thomas Wallen.

On Monday and Tuesday in the men's tournament, the opening tennis week, a doubles legends legentournament will take place starting at 16.

"We've been working on it in the spring. We thought that since Monday and Tuesday are not large audience days and we do not have any Swedish men stars in singles, we would present some legends, instead", says Wallen.

from Blick.ch
by Marc Ribolla

Tennis legends Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic talk about their life after retirement

Roger Federer's (31) great career will end in the years to come. How long the 17-time Grand Slam winner will play is still to be seen. But for a father, Federer says: There comes a time after Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.

And so also for Roger one day the question will be: what comes after that? Former top stars like Stefan Edberg (Sweden, 47) and Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia, 41) are doing great. Like Federer, they are also family men, they have two children each, aged between 5 and 19.

For Edberg (6 times Grand Slam winner) and Ivanisevic (Wimbledon champion in 2001) tennis is no longer in the foreground, yet they still meet regularly on the court - either on the ATP Champions Tour or in show matches. As this week in Stuttgart.

from Porsche-Tennis.com

Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic before their Berenberg Bank Classics exhibition at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart

Stuttgart. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix started its 36th edition on Monday with verve and lots of glamour. The day started in the morning with an event in the Porsche Museum when superstar Maria Sharapova was introduced to the world’s journalists as the new Porsche brand ambassador. 

“Maria Sharapova is an exceptional athlete. She combines top performance in her sports with elegance and power. These are precisely the qualities that are embroiled in our sports cars,” said Matthias Müller, CEO of Porsche AG. According to Müller, it was not easy to find the right person to be Porsche’s ambassador. “Maria Sharapova is the perfect choice. Her profile and charisma are an ideal fit for Porsche. She is also highly respected around the world and enjoys an outstanding reputation.” 

Late in the afternoon tennis history came alive on Centre Court in the Porsche Arena. Playing under the banner of the Berenberg Bank Classics, Swede Stefan Edberg and the Croatian Goran Ivanisevic faced each other in a duel of legends whereby the spectators were treated to top tennis and light-hearted shot-making. A six-time Grand Slam winner and the former long time rival of Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg eventually ran out a 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 winner. Accompanied by music and a colourful light show, the majority of the 28 women players in the race for prize money totalling 795,000 dollars and a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet until coming Sunday were presented afterwards to the spectators on Centre Court. And then it was time for the Player’s Night get-together in the VIP Lounge.