[Kristen]

I posted this in the Swedish forum, but thought some in GM may be interested.

Little star power, waning interest attribute to plight of Swedish tennis
By Ravi Ubha [Feb 18]
Special to ESPN.com

Don't recognize him? That's Robin Soderling, and at No. 59, he is one of only two Swedish players in the top 60 in the world.
Tradition, it seems, counts for little in modern day tennis. Just look at Sweden.

The Scandinavian nation that produced the rock-star like Bjorn Borg, graceful Stefan Edberg and efficient Mats Wilander -- not to mention dozens of other world-class performers in Sweden's heyday -- appears to have cast tennis aside as other sports surge in popularity.

The sport's governing body continues to leak financially, television stations get paid to show Davis Cup encounters and, judging by media involvement, interest in Grand Slams is minimal. The immediate future looks similarly bleak, but the Swedish Tennis Federation and players -- both past and present -- are trying to turn things around.

Last month, for instance, what's believed to be the country's first private academy was launched in Stockholm. It is being overseen by former world No. 2 Magnus Norman.

"We've had a declining curve as far as success," said Mikael Stripple, the federation's director of sport and a former coach of 1999 Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist. "If you compare it to the 1980s, we're far away from that level. If you look at the number of players in the top 100 or 200, we just have a fraction of the amount we used to have."

2002 Australian Open winner Thomas Johnansson leads the way at No. 54, while Robin Soderling, just back from a wrist ailment, and the ageless Jonas Bjorkman are Nos. 59 and 86, respectively.

Johansson, who's had to contend with one injury after another, will turn 33 next month, and his good friend Bjorkman turns 36 a day earlier. No other man is in the top 200.

Sofia Arvidsson, at No. 62, is the only woman in the top 200. She faded following a promising 2006 and didn't even get her own page in this year's WTA player guide. Only one junior, male or female, cracks the top 100.

If that wasn't bad enough, monster server Joachim Johansson, who was on course to become the next Swedish standout, retired this month due to ongoing shoulder problems.

"We were hoping that Joachim and Robin would be in the top for years to come," Stripple lamented.

Being at the elite level was scarcely a problem for the men in the past: Grand Slam champions popped up one by one. Borg collected 11 Grand Slam titles, and his place in the game is well documented. Wilander came next and left with seven majors, one more than Edberg, who was famous for his classic serve-volley game.

There were substantial layers underneath the elite players in those days. Along with Norman and Enqvist, Mikael Pernfors was a Grand Slam finalist. The likes of Joakim Nystrom, Anders Jarryd, Henrik Sundstrom, Jonas Svensson, Magnus Larsson and Kent Carlsson ensured a hefty Swedish contingent in the second weeks of Slams, too.

Thirteen men finished in the top 100 in 1987, and the same year, six different Swedes captured a combined 18 titles, according to ATP stats wizard Greg Sharko. The country, remarkably, reached seven straight Davis Cup finals from 1983-89.

"We were so good that we spoiled everyone at home," said Bjorkman, himself a former world No. 4. "There was no way we could keep winning Davis Cups, have No. 1s and Grand Slam singles champions. We played the Davis Cup semifinals last year and were not even nominated for the top five teams in Sweden. I think people do forget some of the achievements we still create in tennis because they compare everything to the past."

With track and field grabbing more and more headlines -- Carolina Kluft is the world's undisputed heptathlon queen -- and hockey, soccer, golf and alpine skiing flourishing, there was minimal media presence at Sweden's Davis Cup opener in Israel last week. It was also a struggle to find a TV station willing to air September's home semifinal against the U.S.

Bjorkman and a few pals, including Wilander, work on a new Swedish tennis magazine that was launched last year following the demise of another national tennis publication.

The number of kids playing is on the rise, but only after the previous 10 years saw declines, according to Stripple.

"Tennis is not that big anymore," said Jonas Arnesen, a veteran sportswriter for the daily publication Svenska Dagbladet.


Why the downturn?
Apart from those other sports snaring potential tennis wannabes, Stripple pointed to an archaic club structure, due to be revamped by January 2009. Money is lacking -- the federation has been in the red annually in recent years -- as consistent sponsors stay away. The lack of money generated by the sport, for example, has meant that some good Swedish coaches find greener pastures. (Stripple is responsible for juniors, educating coaches, Olympic matters and anti-doping, and he works with tennis themed schools to boot.)

Bjorkman wasn't about to use Sweden's sparse population (about 9 million) as too big of an excuse, saying "a few good players on and off" should be in the pipeline. He did, however, target the federation.

"We were always telling them a lot of ideas of what we think we should do to get tennis in Sweden back on track," he said. "Unfortunately the ideas never went further than when we spoke."

"We need to get out in schools, we need to inform about tennis, we need to write about tennis, we need to start a tennis community," Norman added. "Tennis has been not as proactive as track & field, ice hockey and soccer in Sweden, so it has lost a lot of interest."

Backed by Catella and with the federation's blessing, the academy features juniors aged 15-18 by invitation only. Enqvist is among those who lend a hand, and if all goes well, younger players will be allowed in.

The complex has three hard courts, four clay courts and a gym.

"It's a new concept that started because we see that Swedish juniors aren't practicing enough, and they don't have enough quality in the practice," Norman, renown for his work ethic and fitness on tour, said. "The way we handled the juniors in the '80s, a lot of them came straight from the clubs to the ATP. Now we feel the club level has gone down a little bit."

Meanwhile, the federation's new system next year, will see 23 tennis districts across Sweden compressed to seven regions so that juniors have better competition and a more nurturing atmosphere.

Norman forecasted a renaissance, eventually.

"Everyone wants to see a new Grand Slam winner," he said. "For the moment things are a little bit down, but with the work we're doing at the academy and the work the federation is putting in, I think we'll see a revival again in eight to 10 years."

[Action Jackson]

The federation dropped the ball in the late 80s and the early 90s, they expected that the top class players to be continuing through consistently.

Also when the "golden generation" retired, the next lot that came through Enqvist, Magnus Larsson for example had very high expectations, because of what came before them. The stuck to what they knew and didn't develop their games for success on other surfaces.

It's good that the older generation want to help put Swedish tennis back up there, but these things take time. They used to be the leaders, but the other nations saw what they were doing (Spain) and then took it from there and they got left behind.

[star]

Thanks for that article, Kristen.

The lack of Swedish players has created a great hole in my favorites list. I really hope that with the leadership the likes of that of Bjorkman, who is simply one of the best men around in my book, will put Swedish tennis back on track.

[Merton]

Thanks for the article, it would be impossible for Swedish tennis to be as successful as it was earlier but eventually they will produce again good players. The important thing is to keep the committment in the development process during the hard times.

[Kolya]

I was just thinking about the Swedish downfall recently.

Its a real shame.

Hopefully the tennis federation can do something like the Swedish golf federation has done for Swedish golf.

[Kristen]

Also, this article from March 2nd:

Sweden rising?
After producing a stream of top tennis talent in the 1970s and 1980s -- from world No. 1s Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg -- Sweden finds itself struggling to return to prominence. The country is without a player in the top 40 and has only three inside the top 100.

Robin Soderling and Jonas Bjorkman, ranked 42nd and 85th in the world, are trying to stage a rally in the first few months of the year. Soderling reached the finals of last week's Tour event in Rotterdam and Bjorkman reached the semifinals in the RMKC. Veteran Thomas Johansson, the 2002 Australian Open champion, is ranked 54th.

"Jonas is playing good again, he won some really tough matches here," Soderling said of the 35-year-old Bjorkman, a former world top 5. "We are the only three left since (Joachim Johansson, the 2004 Memphis champion) retired.

"Thomas and Jonas have played for a long time. They are probably not playing that many years more."
Soderling is the only member of the trio under 25 years old. Later this month, Johansson turns 33 and Bjorkman 36.

"I've heard we have some good juniors," Soderling said. "They are maybe 13-, 14- or 15-year olds. Maybe in four or five years they'll be on tour".

[Action Jackson]

Good luck with that, they are going to need it.

[RogerFan82]

Ah!!!! Edberg, My favorite !!! Never will there be a volleyer like him.

[TankingTheSet]

When Thomas Johansson and Bjorkman retire within the next year or so, only Soderling may be a top player if he stays healthy. Looking at juniors there's no Swede in the junior top-100 so probably some very poor years coming up for Sweden.

[Raquel]

Although it's not the only reason for a lack of top players, the Swedes seem to be unlucky with injuries in the last few years with Norman and Johansson retiring prematurely through injuries. Vinciguerra was another prospect who got derailed with injuries and I'm not sure if he's called it a career yet, but I've not seen his name in draws in a while. Thomas Johansson is one of those always considered among the fluke one Slam wonders bracket, but when it came down to it he was the best player when it mattered and you should never underestimate what it takes to win a Slam. Sadly it might be the last Swedish Slam for a while but I like Soderling in a way. He's got attitude Hopefully with the likes of Jonas and Mats, Sweden can get some good players again as with having Stockholm and Bastad, they have two of the real traditional tournaments on the tour, so you know the interest is always there.

[njnetswill]

Poor Sverige.