Mats Wilander

Born: August 22, 1964 in Växjö (Kronoberg)
Height: 1.82 m
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

The parallels between Wilander and Björn Borg are staggering. Wilander not only played like his eight-years-older compatriot (with amazing baseline patience on clay and serve-and-volley on grass), winning the biggest titles, but he also matured very early tennis-wise and burned out at a very similar age. It was the year 1982 when Wilander replaced Borg as the potential king of clay. Borg had won the French Open title five times and decided to suspend his career at the age of 25. At the same time, Wilander appeared in Paris for the first time among professionals, and as an almost 18-year-old boy, claimed the title (Borg conquered Paris in his second French Open being at the same age, more or less, in 1974). Wilander played four additional finals in the French capital, winning two more titles (1985, 1988) and he was arguably the most successful clay-court player of the 80s (Ivan Lendl also won the French Open three times in five finals; in their mutual meetings on Philipp Chatrier court, it was tied 2-2, but I perceive the Swede as a more successful clay-courter given his contribution to the Davis Cup titles on the red surface).
Jay Berger, when asked in 1988 “Is Agassi’s forehand the biggest weapon in tennis?”, replied “No, it’s Wilander’s brain” (by the way, they met twice & Berger won both matches easily!). I agree with that statement and think that Wilander could write a better “Winning Ugly” book than Brad Gilbert. When I watch Wilander’s matches, I don’t see anything particularly interesting: the serve was just decent, ground-strokes rather moderate as well as Wilander’s volleys. Of course, everything at a high level, but nothing impressive; the forehand was not aesthetically pleasant, actually nothing allowed to expect that this guy would win seven major titles (Wilander’s two grass-court Australian triumphs of the years 1983–84 cannot be compared on equal terms to his five other GS titles).
So where is the secret to Wilander’s stellar career? Very likely in his mind as Berger suggested; Wilander, knowing all his limitations, was able to perfectly construct his game-style and also adjust it to his opponents. Wilander once said that the legendary Davis Cup loss to John McEnroe of 1982 gave him more than plenty earlier wins. During that match, after losing the first two sets on a surface that suited McEnroe more, facing the partisan crowd too, the Swede decided to keep the first serve in as long as possible, and it changed the trajectory of the match, preventing McEnroe’s cheap-and-charge attacks in returning games, and Wilander was within two games from winning the longest match in history at the time! One may say that he had a coach beside; regardless of the inventor of the tactics change, there’s no doubt that Wilander could keep the concentration at the highest level for a long period of time.
His physical preparation was great; he quickly improved his volley skills, accelerated the serve, and polished his backhand slice. His Australian Open ’83 triumph wasn’t less shocking than his first major title. He had been labelled as a clay-courter, yet within 1.5 years since lifting the Parisian trophy, Wilander could already deliver a full package. It was very helpful in the years to come; nothing great as far as his strokes were concerned, but everything very good, and flexible thinking, constantly analyzing which tools to use and against whom, also changing it throughout the match depending on the situation.
The US Open ’88 final, a pinnacle of Wilander’s career, is a great example of his highly strategic mind. It was a period when he was in great form but losing the most important finals to Lendl. Even though on hardcourts Wilander was playing in rather defensive mode, he won that final with the help of constant pressure on Lendl. In the sets 2-5, Wilander was regularly applying the serve-and-volley tactics despite Lendl’s piercing passing-shots. Over the years, Wilander figured out that Lendl’s backhand return wasn’t aggressive and was approaching the net, targeting only that wing; perhaps the tactics couldn’t have been so efficient if the Swede had been doing that permanently… he was doing it wisely, intertwining with conservative serves to Lendl’s forehand staying on the baseline behind them. Moreover, in that match, Wilander decided to keep the ball in play off the backhand side almost entirely with slices. You have to praise a player who, instead of repeating the same strategy time and time again in vain, counting on luck, tries to propose something contrary to his own style. From a purely technical level, I like in Wilander’s game his passing-shots – he was hitting the ball much faster being attacked by opponents, with an attitude “from the baseline I can play in moderate pace longer than you, but if you want to attack me better do it with extreme precision; otherwise, the ball will come at you much faster.”
The year 1988 was extraordinary – three major titles (initiated with the first Aussie Open played on hardcourts) and a Key Biscayne triumph (the so-called “fifth Slam” then) – one of the best seasons any player enjoyed in the Open Era; it could have been even better if Wilander hadn’t lost to his toughest rival (Miloslav Mečíř) in Wimbledon’s quarterfinal. There were still matches against more natural grass-court players ahead, but Wilander was in such a terrific form that he couldn’t be written off facing Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. After the final victory over Lendl in New York, Wilander became the best player in the world’s ranking; he was only 24, but it was already his eighth full season among professionals. “It’s the biggest victory I ever had,” said Wilander after the final. “Bigger than my first Paris (French Open) title. It meant so much. A Swede has never won this tournament. I’m going to be No. 1 now. It’s definitely the biggest match I have ever played.”
In the aftermath, he lost his enthusiasm to train hard and the will to force himself to constantly think during matches. Never before or after, a player who reached the peak experienced such a downhill like the Swede in 1989 (it began with the Davis Cup ’88 final). Well, it was still a good year by the standards of the majority of very good players [two major quarterfinals – Paris  and London – and helping Sweden to play seventh (!) consecutive Davis Cup final], yet for a multiple Grand Slam champion of a calendar year, it was a big failure. Another two years were even worse; in 1992, the disguised and looking much older than the age would suggest Wilander didn’t play at all; he needed to redefine his career. After the comeback in the Summer of ’93, he was playing more for personal satisfaction; he did something Borg hadn’t unfortunately done in 1983. The pressure-free Wilander surprised the tennis world twice in 1995 reaching quarter/semifinals in big American events (Key Biscayne & Montreal), winning four successive matches in them both. His attitude towards professional tennis perhaps was too careless – between two very good US appearances, Wilander tested positive for cocaine (with his good friend Karel Nováček). In his final ’96 season, Wilander played his last ATP final (almost six years after the previous one); also, that year he defeated Patrick Rafter, who would soon become one of the best players in the world. The final stages of Wilander’s career weren’t as nice and worldwide appreciated as in Edberg’s case, but the farewell was much tastier than in case of the third great Swede – Borg.

Career record: 571–222 [ 233 events ]
Career titles: 33
Highest ranking: No. 1
Best GS results:
Australian Open (champion 1983-84 & 88; runner-up 1985; semifinal ’90)
Roland Garros (champion 1982, 85 & 88; runner-up 1983 & 87; semifinal 1984; quarterfinal 1989)
Wimbledon (quarterfinalist 1987-89)
US Open (champion 1988; runner-up 1987; semifinal 1985; quarterfinal 1983-84)
Davis Cup champion 1984, 85 & 87 (the third time as both, singles & doubles player)

Year-end ranking 1980-96… 283 – 69 – 7 – 4 – 4 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 1 – 12 – 41 – 159 – X – 330 – 129 – 46 – 196