Mats Wilander!

Mats Wilander!

Mats Wilander, Vaxjo born August 22, 1964, is a Swedish tennis player. During his career he has reached the # 1 worldwide in 1988 and has won seven grand slams. He is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame since 2002.

biography [edit] A steady climb [edit] Mats Wilander begins very early in tennis and begins to shine in junior tournaments. Indeed he won the tournament at Roland Garros Junior Championships and European under 16 and 18. He also won the Orange Bowl in Miami for less than 16 years. From its beginnings as a professional, Wilander demonstrates its exceptional qualities. He won Roland Garros in 1982 at the age of 17 years and 9 months against Guillermo Vilas (record at the time the youngest player to win a Grand Slam). He then rose regularly. He reached the final at Roland Garros next year (he lost to Yannick Noah) but won her second Grand Slam tournament in Australia on grass, beating John McEnroe in succession in the semi-finals and Ivan Lendl in the final . Therefore, it becomes certain that it has the potential to be number 1 and maybe win all four major tournaments on the professional circuit. Yet Mats Wilander has much to do with competition from Lendl, McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, former world number. He manages performance to win a Grand Slam year of 1982 to 1985, with his victories in 1984 at the Australian Open, then in 1985 at Roland Garros, with a final loss against Stefan Edberg in the same year Australia. He moved among the ten best players in the world during this period and rose from No. 3 in July 1985 to World No. 2 behind Lendl in April 1986. The year 1986 was particularly disappointing, however, with a grand slam singles defeats premature before the quarterfinals. However, he distinguished himself by winning the doubles in Wimbledon with his countryman Joakim Nyström. He returns to form in single the following year and became the heir of Ivan Lendl in the ATP rankings against which it fails in three major finals at Roland Garros, U.S. Open and Masters at the end of the year.

1988: Little Slam and world number one [edit] With great composure, a regular top-notch (it was nicknamed the "accountant's tennis" by Patrice Dominguez) and an unflappable sense of play, Mats Wilander in 1988 managed a nearly perfect season. At the Australian Open, he rejects, both times in five sets in the semi-final defending champion Stefan Edberg, then the final Australian Pat Cash, however, who ousted world number one Lendl in the previous round. Wilander keeps going and needed to Key Biscayne (Miami Masters today) against Jimmy Connors in that year the tournament takes place in the same form in Grand Slams, ie, 7 laps in 5 innings making it a sort of fifth Grand Slam tournament. At Roland Garros he rejects the revelation of the tournament Andre Agassi in the semifinals, then French Henri Leconte, 5th World last year. At Wimbledon, he can not do better than the quarter-finals, beaten by Miloslav Mecir. It was at the U.S. Open once again he gives his full potential after his final year before. After a fierce battle in five sets against the world No. 1 and defending champion Ivan Lendl, won his third Grand Slam tournament of the year, making it the first small slam since Jimmy Connors in 1974. Wilander also accessed for the first time at the head of the ATP rankings and ends a reign of three years Lendl who finds his place in early 1989. In 1988, Wimbledon is the tournament that Wilander thwarted in his quest of the four Grand Slam titles. It is also the only tournament he can not win (singles) before retiring.

Davis Cup [edit] Parallel to his career in singles, Wilander committed to participate in the Davis Cup for Sweden. With all its rigor and talent, he reached his first final (lost) in 1983 against Australia. Then, the player allows Sweden to win the Davis Cup in 1984 and 1985. In the final in 1986, Wilander declined selection because he got married. Sweden loses the Cup against Australia. So in 1987 the player wins his third and final bowl of money in a match won 5-0 to India. Subsequently, in 1988 and 1989, Sweden lost in the final against Germany. Mats Wilander has helped his national team to participate in seven consecutive Davis Cup finals!

End of career [edit] Beginning in 1989, having lost his motivation after reaching its goal of becoming the best player in the world, Wilander declined sharply. It is no longer able to shine in Grand Slam except quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1989 losing to John McEnroe, then a semifinal at the Australian Open in 1990 losing to Stefan Edberg. Outside the Grand Slam tournaments, he manages to win the tournament in Itaparica 1990 and made his last stunt with the Canada Masters in 1995, arriving in 1 / 2 final after victories against old rival Edberg , then facing the world number six Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Wilander retired in October 1996 after a final defeat against Martin Damm in the tournament in Beijing. He still participates in some senior tournaments and not far from the tennis world since time was captain of Sweden in Davis Cup and then coached Marat Safin, Tatiana Golovin in 2007 and Paul -Henri Mathieu in 2008. In addition, he holds a regular column in the newspaper L'Equipe. Wilander is now host of the TV series Game, Set and Mats (Game, Set and Mats) on Eurosport.

Anecdotes [edit] In the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 1982, Mats Wilander makes the point to his opponent, Jose Luis Clerc, on a match point in his favor, then the referee has already stated: "Game, set Wilander and match. " He will win a few more minutes later and will qualify for the final. Throughout his career, Wilander will be considered one of the players the most fair-play circuit.

Wilander played against American John McEnroe in July 1982, the longest game in the history of the Davis Cup defeat 9-7, 6-2, 15-17, 3-6, 8-6 in 6:00 and 22 minutes.