Jonas Björkman

Born: March 23, 1972 in Alvesta (Kronoberg)
Height: 1.84 m
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Björkman was an heir to two different schools of Swedish tennis: one represented by a bunch of players inspired by Björn Borg, who used two-handed backhands and built their tactics around ground-strokes, and the other represented primarily by Stefan Edberg, the serve-and-volley style. Björkman tried to combine these two schools (similarly to Anders Järryd in the preceding decade), even though his volley skills were nowhere close to Edberg’s, and his forehand lacked the power of the three Magnuses (Larsson, Norman, and Gustafsson), who played more or less at the same time. He had to invent this hybrid supported by exceptional physical preparation because as a junior glued to the baseline he sunk in European mediocrity.
Björkman first showed signs of his potential at the US Open 1994, where he destroyed his idol Edberg in the third round before advancing to the quarterfinals. A few months later he reached the Key Biscayne ’95 semifinals after eliminating Mats Wilander, arguably the second-best Swede born in the 60s.
In those early years on ATP tour (mid-90s), he established himself as one of the best doubles players, partnering fellow Swede Jan Apell, who is three years older. The constant net attacks behind each serve in doubles and improved return skills (in the 90s only Paul Haarhuis could deal with service bombs as good as Björkman), he successfully transferred into his singles career by 1997. At 25, as a serve-and-volley player relying on his satisfactory first serve, attacking the net a lot with approach-shots as a receiver, he enjoyed a memorable season from start to finish (he moved from No. 69 to 4 that year): began it with a title in Auckland, finished with a Davis Cup triumph (leading Sweden in both singles and doubles alongside Nicklas Kulti), in the meantime he captured his biggest career title – Indianapolis (an equivalent of today’s ATP 500). He also reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open, highlighted by another stunning third-round victory over the reigning French Open champion.
The last quarter of that season was particularly impressive: including the US Open, Björkman won 25 of 32 matches, reaching at least the semifinals in four consecutive indoor events (Paris-Bercy marked his first and last Masters 1K final). The crowning achievement was his four-set victory over Michael Chang in the opening rubber of the Davis Cup final, setting the tone for Sweden’s 5-0 humiliation of the Americans.
The magic faded after the 1998 Australian Open (the only Slam where Björkman was considered a title favorite). He lost in the quarterfinals to veteran Petr Korda despite winning the first two sets, and his terrific form soon evaporated (between the Dubai semifinal and the grass-court ’98 season, he won only 4 matches losing 11). Still, for another ten years of his career, he remained a permanent Top 100 player, capable of occasional surprises at big tournaments (like his Wimbledon ’06 semifinal run at 34), leveraging his vast experience in best-of-five matches. Due to his longevity he played for the entire 90s (1-9 record against the decade’s best Pete Sampras) and almost the entire 00s (0-5 against the decade’s best Roger Federer). The only other player who experienced something similar is Fabrice Santoro, the Frenchman’s career stretched even longer, between 1989 and 2010.
In the 90s, Björkman was the only player – alongside Guy Forget – to compete in the “Masters” events in both singles (1997 semifinalist) and doubles (1994 champion). Off the court, he was known for his amusing player impersonations (John McEnroe, Emilio Sánchez, Edberg), which Eurosport often featured. Post-retirement, he teamed up with fellow Swedish pros Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin to create a club league for amateur players. In 2015 he was coaching Andy Murray, but didn’t help him to reach the top spot.

Career record: 414-362 [ 349 events ]
Career titles: 6
Highest ranking: No. 4
Best GS results:
Australian Open (quarterfinal 1998 and 02)
Wimbledon (semifinal 2006; quarterfinal 2003)
US Open (semifinal 1997; quarterfinal 1994 and 98)
Davis Cup champion 1994, 1997 & 1998 (twice in doubles, once in singles/doubles)
World Team Cup champion 1995