PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of Swedish tennis’ great giants.
Today we pay tribute to the legendary Stefan Edberg on his 58th birthday.
Now he reveals what the relationship with the idol Björn Borg looks like these days.
Sweden was a world power in tennis in the latter half of the 20th century and it all started with the incredible Björn Borg. He put Swedish tennis on the world map and changed the sport forever.
Edberg’s career
Borg won five consecutive Wimbledon titles and inspired a whole generation of young Swedish tennis players. One of them was Stefan Edbergwho started playing when the idol and great role model was at the peak of his career.
– I started tennis school with a friend, but almost quit when the friend quit. But they persuaded me to continue, they must have seen something. Of course, Björn was an idol for me and many others. He built the development of tennis. Everyone was going to play, the courts were full and many new halls were built, says Edberg in an interview with Dagens Nyheter.
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Edberg would then follow in Borg’s footsteps and conquer the tennis world as his great heir in Sweden. Stefan Edberg won a total of six Grand Slam titles and took over as world number one in 1990 – he also became the only Swede after Björn Borg to win the singles at Wimbledon, with double victories in 1988 and 1990.
Relationship to Borg
In addition to his successes, the tennis legend from Västervik was extremely appreciated by his rivals, as a real gentleman in the sport. But he unfortunately never got to meet his idol Borg – and now he opens up about their relationship these days.
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Because Edberg has had to help his son Leo Borg with his tennis career, via his self-started foundation.
– Björn’s son Leo has received a scholarship from there. Otherwise, we don’t have a close relationship. We have bumped into each other quite frequently in the last ten years, before that Björn was invisible for a long period, he says to the newspaper.
READ MORE: The giants Ingemar Stenmark and Björn Borg settle with Wayne Gretzky in the most powerful settlement of all time
Stefan Edberg also keeps a low profile these days, he rarely appears in TV shows or interviews to talk about himself and his successful tennis career.
– It suits me and my personality. I’ve always been quite shy. When I came up in tennis and was forced to stand in the limelight, you had to get used to it and learn to deal with it afterwards. Nowadays, it’s quite nice to be able to take the subway when I’m in London and visit my daughter without being recognised, he tells Affärsliv 24.
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