Stefan Edberg - Distinctions and Honors

Distinctions and Honors

  • Edberg also played on four Swedish Davis Cup winning teams in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1994. He appeared in seven Davis Cup finals—a record for a Swedish player.
  • Since the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) computer rankings began, Edberg and John McEnroe are the only men to be ranked World No. 1 in both singles and doubles. Edberg is also the only player to achieve the 'Junior Grand Slam' in history of the game.
  • Edberg is the only player ever to earn both Player of the Year and Doubles Team of the Year. Edberg won Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 and Doubles Team of the Year (with fellow Swede Anders Järryd) in 1986.
  • Edberg and Boris Becker are the only male tennis players ever to receive the United Press International Athlete of the Year Award (with Edberg having received the award in 1990).
  • Edberg was also a member of the Swedish teams that won the World Team Cup in 1988, 1991, and 1995.
  • At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where tennis was a demonstration sport, Edberg won the men's singles gold medal. Four years later, at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, tennis became a full medal sport and Edberg won bronze medals in both the men's singles and the men's doubles.
  • During his career, Edberg won a total of 42 top-level singles titles (6 majors) and 18 doubles titles (3 majors) and appeared in a then record 54 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments (since then broken by Wayne Ferreira).
  • He was ranked the World No. 1 in singles for a total of 72 weeks.
  • Edberg was also a five-time recipient of the ATP Sportsmanship Award (1988–90, 1992, and 1995). In recognition of this achievement, the ATP renamed the award the "Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award" in 1996.
  • In 2004, Edberg was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
  • Edberg won singles titles in 12 different countries: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • Edberg is considered by Tennis Magazine as the 14th greatest player, counting both male and female tennis players, of the Tennis Era. Counting men only, Edberg ranks 8th.
  • Edberg was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1990.
  • Edberg was a childhood hero of Roger Federer.
  • Edberg is one of the few players who reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments, winning three of them. In the 1989 French Open final, Edberg lead the match by two sets to one over Michael Chang and had numerous break points during the fourth and fifth sets. He eventually led the match by a break in the fifth set but could not win it.
  • Edberg won several Grand Slam matches after being down a break of service in the fifth and deciding set. Notable examples include the 1988 Wimbledon semifinal against Miloslav Mečíř, the 1989 French Open semifinal against Boris Becker, and the 1990 Wimbledon final against Becker. In the 1992 US Open, Edberg did it in three consecutive matches, against Richard Krajicek in the fourth round, Ivan Lendl in the quarterfinals, and Chang in the semifinals. In all these examples except the 1989 French Open final, Edberg went on to win the title.
  • Edberg's distinctive serve is used as the logo for the Australian Open.

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