Former Wimbledon referee and supervisor Alan Mills officially retired from tennis this month, with a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall during the London stage of the ATP Champions Tour.

On that occasion, he was a special guest of The Tennis Podcast for their final release of 2015.

Presenter David Law asked him to single out a player that impressed him the most throughout his long journey in the world of tennis. Mr Mills chose Rod Laver as a player to watch and Stefan Edberg and Pat Rafter for their attitude.

In particular, he wanted to recall an episode concerning Stefan, happened 25 years ago in Miami, that once again reminds us all of how great a sportsman the Swede is.

The American thinks that the choice of Ivan Ljubicic can be framed into Roger's target of beating Novak Djokovic in the big matches, something that he has failed doing in the Stefan Edberg era.

«Ths just shows how Federer, beyond having an amazing year at 34, is still trying to do better. He is not satisfied with being number three in the world and winning 11 titles. He didn't win a Major, I think he still thinks that he can," said Gilbert in a phone conversation with Adrianne Lawrence during the Espn sports news.

The Croat should help the 17-time Major winner with new and fresh ideas. «Ljubicic is a little younger than Stefan, lives in Monte Carlo and is a little closer to today's players. Roger must think he can bring something to the table, strategy-wise, to beat Novak».

from The Challenge (Arnesen-Tennis)
by Jonas Arnesen
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg has put his career as a coach on the shelf, and most likely it's forever.

"I'm 99.9 percent certain about that", says Edberg to Challenge.

Last week came the news that Edberg and Roger Federer broke their cooperation after two successful seasons together. Edberg has extended Federer's time at the very top of the world.

"It has been an amazing time and I had a very honorable task," says Stefan, who thought to become a coach on the ATP tour when Federer approached him in December 2013.

At least some of the top players will change coaches during the next season. If any of them want Stefan Edberg in their team they will therefore be disappointed.

by Steve Tignor
from Tennis.com

Stefan Edberg with Roger Federer and Ivan Ljubicic last year at Wimbledon

Out with Fedberg, in with... Ljuberer?

According to Roger Federer, that’s where he’s heading in 2016. The 17-time Slam winner announced this week that his coach of the last two years, Stefan Edberg, has been replaced by Ivan Ljubicic.

Does this move come as a surprise? Does it feel like a step down? At first, the answers to both questions would seem to be "yes".

Edberg and Federer made a strong and seemingly natural team; their polished styles and demeanors appeared to dovetail perfectly. While they never won the big one—i.e., a major—the Swiss stabilized and sharpened his game with the Swede in his corner. It’s hard to remember now, but when Edberg was added to the team at the end of 2013, a 32-year-old Federer was coming off the most disappointing season of his career. His ranking had dropped from No. 2 to No. 6, and the inevitable signs of late-career decline—injuries, equipment changes, shock losses, early-round exits—seemed to have set in for good.

Roger Federer asked Stefan Edberg to remain his coach for another year, but Stefan refused to extend the contract to come back to his business and family commitments.

This behind-the-scene was revealed in a tweet by New York Times tennis columnist Christopher Clarey, who left his source unsaid.

What seems to be certain, instead, is that the end of the relationship was something the two had been aware of since months ago.

This detail was confirmed by Roger's head coach Severin Lüthi in an article he wrote for Swiss website Blick.ch: «The fact that the time with Stefan would come to an end was evident. He just didn't like to travel too much and already remained one year longer than planned.»

In 2015 Stefan only followed Roger for 10 weeks in total, compared to the 15 of the year before, skipping the longest trips to North America where he went only for the US Open and not for Indian Wells and Cincinnati.

from Vavel.com
by Pete Borkowski

Stefan Edberg with Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov last year in Cincinnati

With the former coach of Roger Federer now available, there are a handful of players who could use the veteran guidance that Edberg brings to the table.

Roger Federer wasted no time in announcing who would replace Stefan Edberg as his new coach. However, there has been no word yet about whether or not Edberg will look for a new player to coach. Whether or not Edberg intends on continuing to coach, there are plenty of players on the ATP World Tour who could use his guidance. Here is a list of players who should consider hiring Stefan Edberg.

Nick Kyrgios

The controversial Australian is currently without a coach and desperately needs one. Edberg would be a near-perfect fit for the feisty 20-year old. Stylistically, Edberg would be perfect because not only did he play a very similar style to Kyrgios, he just spent two years working with Roger Federer who played a near-identical style. Edberg helped Federer shape that new, aggressive, net-charging style that has brought about his renaissance. Kyrgios is already a big-hitting player who loves to charge the net. Edberg would go into that partnership familiar with the style and would be able to help him perfect that style. Edberg has already done that twice, for himself as a player and with Federer as a coach. He likely would be able to do it a third time with Kyrgios.

With a short statement released to ATP World Tour.com, Stefan Edberg gave his motivations behind the end of his partnership with Roger Federer.

The Swede made clear that the time required by his role in the team was too much for him to continue and there has never been a plan to go for another year.

Here's the full statement:

"Roger and I had a wonderful two years together.  When he originally approached me at the end of 2013, I committed to work with him for only a year.  It became very clear from the start that this was going to be a special partnership, working with the greatest ambassador tennis has ever seen.  It was exciting for me to be back out on tour and to see that the sport has made so much progress."

"The quality of tennis today is stronger than it has ever been.  After an amazing 2014, I decided to continue on for another year, but with a clear understanding that it would be my last year given the time commitment. I believe Roger still has a lot left to give to the sport of tennis and is capable of winning the big events. Roger and I will remain close friends and I will always feel part of the Federer team.  I hope to try and come watch Roger play some tournaments in 2016."

by Mauro Cappiello

With this beautiful picture of them together, yesterday Roger Federer paid tribute to Stefan Edberg, his coach for the last two years

Stefan Edberg will no longer be Roger Federer’s coach. With a message on his social channels the Swiss communicated to his fans a decision he and Stefan must have already agreed since long. The original deal was for at least 10 weeks in 2014, it became a successful partnership that saw the Swedish legend travel the main events of the Tour again for two years, almost like in the old days.

Although the media emphasized Roger’s role in the decision, it is clear that such an effort in terms of time and energy must have been a huge stress for the quite and reserved Stefan, who would have never imagined to get back on the stage until only a minute before receiving the Swiss’ call. So we can reasonably suppose that celebrating his 50th birthday in Australia was not in Edberg’s plans and that even if Federer had asked for a further extension of the agreement, this time Stefan would have said no.

from ATP World Tour.com

Stefan Edberg was presented with an International Tennis Hall of Fame ring by Christopher Clouser, Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum and Todd Martin, the CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum.

The ceremony underlined the Swede’s illustrious playing career, during which he recorded 806 wins, won 41 titles and attained number one in the Emirates ATP Rankings in both singles and doubles. The serve-and-volleyer reached the final of all four Grand Slam events, winning six in total. He defeated nemesis Boris Becker to capture the 1989 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and finished runner-up to Andre Agassi the following year.

The London resident is now in the midst of a successful second career in tennis, coaching World No. 3 Roger Federer, who has already qualified for the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by winning his first two round-robin matches in straight sets.

In a packed O2 Arena, Roger Federer started his run at the ATP World Tour Finals yesterday night, defeating Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets with the score of 6-4, 6-2.

Right after the match, his coach Stefan Edberg was called to join him at the centre of the court for a short ceremony at the presence of ATP World Tour CEO Chris Kermode, in which the Swiss was delivered the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the 11th time and the Fans' Favourite Award for his 13th successive time.

In case you missed the event, we have a complete photo-gallery for you and an early video available on Youtube!