Swedes tennis influence mostly off court

No player left a bigger impression in the emerging Open era than Sweden's Bjorn Borg, who won 11 majors from 1974 to 1981 and was to tennis what the Beatles were to rock 'n' roll.

For the third year running, there almost certainly will be no Swedish man in the U.S. Open main singles draw.

No Swede has appeared in the first round in any of the four majors since Robin Soderling at Wimbledon in 2011.

Like its onetime rival the USA, Swedish tennis is at a historic low point. Sweden's highest-ranked player is 18-year-old Elias Ymer, who is well outside the top 200.

But Swedish influence in the sport — away from the court — has never been deeper. It is adding luster to a rich tennis history that has fallen on hard times.

Having an impact on sport

From coaching to broadcasting to player development to business, Swedes are everywhere.

Hall of Famer Mats Wilander, 49, has been a regular Eurosport commentator for years and runs a U.S.-based mobile instruction company out of a Winnebago called Wilander on Wheels.

Thomas Johansson, 39, the 2002 Australian Open champ, was the Stockholm Open tournament director before becoming a consultant to Swedish-based clothing company H&M, which last year signed world No. 5 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Coaches with less-polished playing résumés such as Peter Lundgren, Thomas Hogstedt and Swedish Davis Cup captain Fredrik Rosengren have impacted a number of top players, from Marcelo Rios to Maria Sharapova.

But what has lifted the Swedish profile most is two Swiss affiliations: Stefan Edberg's decision to work part time with Roger Federer this year, and Stan Wawrinka's victory in the Australian Open in January less than a year after hiring Magnus Norman.

Both events, former world No. 2-ranked Norman says, "were pretty big news in Sweden."

"We don't have, really, any players to look up to," said Norman, 38. "It's nice that in some way they are writing about tennis."

And there are more in the mix.

After serving as marketing director for the ATP event in Stockholm, Jonas Bjorkman is commentating for Swedish television and working as an assistant for the Davis Cup team. Thomas Enqvist is helping coach Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

"I think the Swedish impact in tennis is bigger outside the court than on the court for the moment," Johansson, Sweden's last major winner 14 years ago, wrote by e-mail. "But everyone is working hard to change that."

It's hardly an anomaly for former players, especially elite ones, to stay involved in the game. The sport is populated with ex-pros in media, marketing, coaching and player representation.

"It's normal," says 1985 Wimbledon semifinalist Anders Jarryd, who works for the Swedish Tennis Federation as a coach and runs a tennis center in Bastad.

Still, there might be something in the reserved, nose-to-the-ground Scandinavian character that is an added calling card.

"Probably pretty low-key, working pretty hard, pretty honest," Norman said of the Swedish ethos. "Maybe it's a good combination."

Strong tradition

If there's a hint of embarrassment in the current state of affairs — and there is — it's understandable.

Between 1974 and 1992, Sweden's powerful pipeline of players failed to win a Grand Slam title in a season only twice. In 1988, Swedes swept all four — the only time one country has done that in the modern era beyond Australian Rod Laver's calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969.

From 1975 to 1998, Sweden also captured seven Davis Cup championships, tied with the USA for most by any country.

In September 1986, nearly half of the top-10 players hailed from Sweden, with Wilander, Edberg, Joakim Nystrom and Mikael Pernfors occupying slots 2, 3, 9 and 10.

"A setback was always going to happen but to this extent is probably a big surprise even to myself," six-time major winner Edberg wrote in an e-mail.

The brightest light of Swedish tennis, Borg, has kept a relatively low profile since he walked away from the game at 26.

And he never won the U.S. Open, though he reached four finals.

"For Bjorn, it was different," Bjorkman said. "He was the rock star in tennis. His life changed completely. He was probably more happy to live a quiet life."

But even Borg has been making public rounds of late, including at this year's French Open, where he presented the winner's trophy to Rafael Nadal.

Swedes say complacency after the glory years, poor decisions by sporting authorities, lack of cold-climate facilities and bigger interest in sports such as hockey and soccer are some of the reasons for the downturn.

"Ten years ago, everyone wanted to be (NHL great) Peter Forsberg," says 1986 French Open finalist Pernfors, who is a regular on the senior tour and helps with sponsors at tour events in Sweden.

The absence of Sweden's best millennial players hasn't helped.

Former top-five-ranked Soderling — the only player to solve Nadal at Roland Garros — has not played since winning the Bastad event in July 2011 because of health problems related to mononucleosis.

Johansson, a former world No.9, has played one tournament since 2011 and has been all but retired because of a shoulder injury.

"It started to bounce back with Robin, but when he got sick the kids didn't see any players," said Pernfors, 51.

To help put tennis back on the map, several retired players have launched tennis academies on home soil. Norman established the Good to Great academy with former players Mikael Tillstrom and Nicklas Kulti in 2011. Edberg, 48, helped start the Ready Play Tennis Academy with Magnus Larsson and former Swedish Davis Cup captain Carl-Axel Hageskog.

The collective presence of these figures is boosting interest back home, several Swedes said. There is hope that the continued involvement will carry over to the playing ranks soon.

"As nice as it is to see all those names in tennis," former top-five Enqvist says, "the best would be to get the new Bjorn Borg."