Stefan Edberg was not only a giant on the tennis court.
He played fantastically entertaining tennis.
And this clip proves exactly how beautiful he really was – even during matches.
For a few years, Sweden was incredibly spoiled when it comes to talent and world stars in tennis. Björn Borg is perhaps the greatest Swedish sports star of all time, with countless major titles. And it wasn’t long after he quit before another Swedish monster talent emerged.
Incredibly successful
After Borg put his racket on the shelf, Stefan Edberg came and took over. Edberg won a total of six Grand Slam titles and was also world number one in 1990 – and to this day he is classed as one of the really greats both in the tennis world and in Swedish sports. But with Edberg it wasn’t just about him winning the competitions.
But actually his popularity was as much about how he won the competitions. Stefan Edberg played offensive and aggressive tennis, always on the attack. He was also known for having a leaden serve and he was almost tireless at the baseline, which meant that he always found a way back into matches. Edberg was also a gentleman when it came to the game, and always offered that little extra. Maybe he didn’t always take the game as seriously as his competitors, and that’s what made so many people like him.
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Beautiful move
And of this in particular, there are an awful lot of examples – but one stands out a little extra. In a match many years ago, Edberg pulled out one of his patented serves, and this time so hard that the opponent actually fell trying to stop the ball. It also meant that Edberg won the tie – and immediately afterwards he did something that no modern tennis star would do.
During the short break between the clips, Edberg went directly from the serve ace – to standing and drinking Coca Cola. This was brought to the attention of a tennis account on Instagram, and the likes absolutely poured in. And you just have to agree – what an incredibly cool move by Edberg!
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