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

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.

Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic answered questions by the fans in a live chat on Facebook made possible by the Porsche Tennis Open before their exhibition match that will take place later today in Stuttgart. Here's the full transcript. On this page, the questions order has been edited and structured to make the chat look like a real interview, but the fans' words and their sense have been left unchanged. German questions have been translated into English.

Manuel S. Gießen: Hi Stefan and Goran, is this your first time in Stuttgart? How do you like the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix?

Stefan Edberg: I played here 20 years ago... But I have never been to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix until today... It is a beautiful arena...

Mauro Cappiello: Hi Stefan, hi Goran! I have a question for both of you! Stefan, I watched you play the Kings of Tennis final last month, is it possible that your forehand is more effective than in the '80s/'90s? ;-)

Stefan Edberg: Yes it is... :) It's never too late.

from Porsche Tennis Daily
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

It's a beautiful tradition: when Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is cold the guys make it hot. Today on Centre Court at 17.30 o'clock at the Berenberg Bank Classics veterans Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic will play a show match.

The big men are popular in the women's stronghold of Porsche Arena. In recent years John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Henry Leconte and Pat Cash have proved what they are still so impressive. Organiser Carl-Uwe Steeb, former Swabian Davis Cup hero, always looks for particular players for such exhibition matches.

So also for today: Stefan Edberg (47), 1985 Davis Cup winner with Sweden against Germany and six-time Grand Slam winner, impressed in his young years for his calm. Opponent Goran Ivanisevic (42) did for different reasons. The dreaded spitfire celebrated his only Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon in 2001, having started as a wildcard. Steeb is certain: "The spectators will appreciate."

by Mauro Cappiello

Interview your favourite player, isn't it a dream? No more, with the interactivity provided by the social networks it has become a real opportunity that we hope will get more and more popular during tennis tournaments worldwide.

For the second time in as many months Stefan Edberg fans will have the chance to ask him their questions. It happened last March 12th in Stockholm, before Stefan's debut in the Kings  of Tennis against Pernfors. A 15 minute live chat on Twitter, made possible by the ATP Champions Tour website, in which Edberg replied to 19 questions from his fans and chose the best one in the end. A lucky guy won a wonderful autographed t-shirt of the event.

from Porsche-Tennis.com

Tennis history comes alive at the Berenberg Bank Classics: Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic will play each other in the eagerly awaited exhibition match held in conjunction with the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Monday, 22 April.

Stefan Edberg was a shooting star. In his first year as a pro in 1984 he won the Davis Cup with Sweden and the demonstration tournament at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. His first Grand Slam win came a year later at the Australian Open. On 13 August 1990 he became the world No. 1 for the first time and headed the rankings for a total of 72 weeks.

by Mauro Cappiello

Who didn't think that the worst was going to happen again? When Stefan Edberg was one set and a break up in the Kings of Tennis final against John McEnroe and started to walk with a limp, repeatedly touching his left thigh and asking for the physio, we all went back to the 2012 Zurich final against Carlos Moya, when the same kind of injury prevented him from winning the title with the match that seemed already over.

The fact that this time he went all the way in front of his home crowd, against an opponent 6 years his senior (that had struggled himself with a neck injury in the match before against Henri Leconte) can't make us forget that almost twenty years have gone by since Stefan's professional days and, inevitably, playing serve & volley tennis for entire matches in consecutive days on fast surfaces (stressing out articulations and muscles) is getting increasingly demanding for his body.

Yet it remains a show! Watching the final, all the lovers of vintage tennis can't help noticing and appreciating the variety that Stefan can give his shots. When you see him use three different spins on three consecutive serves, you immediately think that, even though racquets and strings have developed becoming a technological weapon today, an alternative to exclusively power tennis would still be possible if the player's arm and hand are educated and know the game's history and secrets.

by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic will play an exhibition match in Stuttgart during the women's Porsche Tennis Open. The event will happen on the inauguration day of the tournament, on Monday April 22nd. Stefan and Goran played two finals against each other at the Stuttgart Eurocard Open in the early '90s. In 1992 the Croat won in four sets, but Edberg took revenge two years later, winning the 1994 final always in four sets.

from ATP Champions Tour.com 
by Catherine Whitaker

Stefan Edberg dashed the hopes of defending champion John McEnroe in the final of the Kings of Tennis in Stockholm on Friday to lift his first ATP Champions Tour title since 2010.

With two masters of the serve-and-volley on court the capacity crowd inside the Waterfront Congress Centre in Stockholm were treated to some exhilarating tennis from a pair of players who, between them, have a collection of 13 Grand Slam singles titles.

Edberg seized early control of the match, breaking the McEnroe serve and racing to a 3-0 lead. McEnroe's soon fought back though, levelling and 3-3 before being broken again by the ferocity of the Edberg return-of-serve. The Swede served out the first set 6-4, and the second set  was to follow a similar pattern. Though McEnroe weathered an early storm once again, his will was eventually broken and the Swede was able to seize a crucial break of serve and close out the match 6-4, 6-3.

Relive our live Twitter coverage of the Stockholm Kings of Tennis 2013 final between Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe. The Swede won 6-4 6-3 in little more than 1 hour and a half, playing with a left thigh injury since the fourth game of the second set.