2 Responses to washington94edberg_stoltenberg

1. Voo de Mar says:

   September 14, 2025 at 6:14 pm

   Points won by each set: | 33-28, 32-22 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   31 % Edberg – 17 of 54
   26 % Stoltenberg – 16 of 61

   At the end of 80s, Stoltenberg seemed like an “Australian Edberg”, similarly to the Swede a few years before, he became the best junior in the world, and his first starts in men’s tennis were promising (i.a. the fourth round at the Aussie Open ’88 when he was 17). From purely technical point of view he looked like Edberg [7], even with slightly better forehand, yet technical department constitutes just 1/3 of components that decide about results, other two (physical preparation and mindset – understood as a combination of tactics and mental stamina) are much tougher to grasp at first sight – these two departments were never Stoltenberg’s strength; his vision problem overlapped, he didn’t like playing with sunglasses or contact lenses, but without them he couldn’t see the ball well enough. Yet in Summer ’94, he finally began achieving results expected from him already in the early 90s – between Wimbedon and US Open that year, he won 19 matches within two months – as many as in the entire 1991 season when he was a Top 100 player. In those two best months of his career when he defeated five Top 20 players, reaching two big ATP finals including a Mercedes Super 9. Stoltenberg moved from no. 47 to 21, but lost the US Open’s first round despite winning the first two sets 6-1, 6-4, five matches in succession, and for the rest of the 90s he came back to the status of an average Top 50 player, capable of making an upset from time to time. I consider him as the biggest underachiever among players born in the 70s given just his technical skill-set.

   Edberg’s route to his 40th title:
   2 Alex Antonitsch 6-2, 6-1
   3 Jonathan Stark 6-4, 6-4
   Q Aaron Krickstein 6-4, 6-1
   S Byron Black 6-4, 7-5
   W Jason Stoltenberg 6-4, 6-2

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   September 14, 2025 at 6:42 pm

   ☆ A short post-Wimbledon period, marked the last one in Edberg’s stellar career when he was playing his best tennis, evoking the years 1990-91 when he’d been the best in the world. After helping Sweden to beat France in the Davis Cup quarterfinal (defeating two very good French players, 3-0 each), he triumphed in the US capital, and reached the Cincinnati final, dropping just a set in the process. Edberg’s shocking defeats at Roland Garros and Wimbledon ’94 had signalised he wouldn’t have been able to deliver his best tennis across five sets, but after the Cincy final, he lost his consistency in the “best fo three” format too.

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