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.

from Cityam.com
by Frank Dalleres

Stefan Edberg with his coach Tony Pickard (picture by Tob Gonsch)

BRITAIN’S Laura Robson has made the right decision in jettisoning a third coach in 18 months, according to former world No1 Stefan Edberg.

The Swede, who won five of his six grand slam titles under British coach Tony Pickard, believes Robson, 19, can improve by focusing on honing her strengths rather than trying to eliminate her weaknesses.

Robson parted ways with Andy Murray’s former aide Miles Maclagan last week, just four months after joining forces. That followed a nine-month spell under Croatian Zeljko Krajan.

"Maybe having a lot of coaches isn’t the best situation but, equally, if you stay with the wrong person and do not make a decision that is probably worse," Edberg said.

"People often talk about how you should work on your weaknesses. For me it was the forehand from the baseline. But I was more concerned with strengthening my strengths."

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 Smålandsposten 
by Sven Elofsson
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg poses with the PlaySight Smart Court device installed in the Södra Climate Arena

SMART COURT. What do London, New York and Växjö have in common in tennis? The answer is all three have got winners in the Grand Slam tournaments, but now also PlaySight Smart Court, a technological system, currently being installed at the Södra Climate Arena.

«If we want to be at the forefront as development center, we must take on the best devices available», says former pro Magnus Larsson. He and his colleagues in Ready Play Tennis Carl-Axel Hageskog and Stefan Edberg have just had visits by Israeli company Play Sight that installed computers and cameras in the hall.

Roughly speaking, it is possible to do the following: four cameras are placed on the four corners of the tennis court and one main camera in the middle of one side. Players log in the computer systems. Each shot on the court is  recorded automatically through the cameras of the computer. Throughout the session you know if your serve is inside or outside the lines, the speed of your serves and other data. After finishing the match, you go to a 3D screen for analyzing the data. You can see yourself playing on the monitor and you'll get more statistics than the ones reported on the TV screen after the pro tour matches.

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 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."

by Mauro Cappiello

The ATP World Tour celebrated the 40th anniversary of the introduction of computer rankings with a great parade of number ones at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York last night. 18 former singles ranking leaders, and the current man on top, Novak Djokovic, were present at the gala night that was streamed live by the ATP World Tour official website.

Among those super champions, with the elegance we are all used to, was also Stefan Edberg. «What a great idea! These occasions are very special, so everyone should make their best effort to come», he said in a short video interview. Actually it was a unique meeting among some of the greatest names in the history of the game and a nice melting between the very best of the present and the past.

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."

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.