Jonas Bjorkman

If there is one Swedish tennis player that the country could call the greatest of all time, it would be Jonas Bjorkman. A master of the doubles game, Bjorkman has won every single Grand Slam in that category at least once. He was no slouch when it came to singles competition either. Despite not being able to win a Grand Slam as a singles competitor, the Swede was ranked fourth in the world at one point. For a player who was mainly successful in doubles, that indeed is an astounding achievement. Bjorkman has won a total of six career titles as a singles competitor, ending his career with a win/loss record of 414-362. When it comes to doubles competition, he is an absolute legend. Bjorkman won 54 doubles titles in his career, including nine Grand Slam victories. Yes, nine. Bjorkman retired in 2008, ending a 17-year-old legendary career.

As a doubles player, the Swede had to work on his game so that he could be a more dynamic player. This allowed him to forge multiple successful partnerships over the course of his career. Bjorkman has had long-term successful doubles partnerships with Jan Apell, Jacco Eltingh, Nicklas Kulti, Max Mirnyi, Patrick Rafter, Kevin Ullyett, and Todd Woodbridge.

The Swede is a dominant offensive player, winning 50% of his points at the net (with or without a volley to play). As soon as he had the opportunity, Bjorkman rushed to the net, scoring three times more points with his volley than his opponents. His preferred method of entry was the serve and volley, but he could also use the return volley and the baseline approach on the return games. The 1-2 punch method was the least popular. Bjorkman was a tempo player on the return games or from the back of the court. He kept the ball close to the baseline, took it on the rise, and attacked with the backhand, forehand, and return of serve.

Bjorkman began his professional career in 1991. He won three Challenger singles titles in 1993. Bjorkman also won seven doubles titles in 1994, including the ATP World Championships in Jakarta. In 1995, he reached the ATP singles final for the first time in his career in Hong Kong. Bjorkman was the seventh Swedish tennis player to ever finish in the ATP top 10 when he reached No. 4 in 1997. At the US Open, he defeated Francisco Clavet, Todd Martin, Gustavo Kuerten, Scott Draper, and Petr Korda before losing to Greg Rusedski in the semifinals. The Swede won his first Grand Slam doubles title at the 1998 Australian Open. For the seventh time in seven years, he finished in the top 50 in singles in 2000.

Bjorkman made it to the Wimbledon singles semifinals at the age of 34 in 2006, making him the oldest player to do so since Jimmy Connors in 1987. The tennis player was unseeded, but defeated 14th-seeded Radek Stepanek in a match that included a match point save. Bjorkman had previously defeated his doubles partner Max Mirnyi as well as another Swede, Thomas Johansson, along with Luka Dlouh and Daniele Bracciali to reach the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Bjorkman found world No. 1 and defending champion Roger Federer to be too strong, losing in straight sets.

During Wimbledon in 2008, he announced that this would be his final Wimbledon, as he intended to retire at the end of the season. Despite being eliminated in the first round of singles, Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett advanced to the final in the doubles, where they were defeated by second seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonji, receiving a hero's farewell at Wimbledon. Bjorkman retired from professional tennis after failing to qualify for the doubles semifinals of the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup with his partner Ullyett.

Grand Slam singles career

Australian Open: QF (1998, 2002)

French Open: 4R (1996, 2007)

Wimbledon: SF (2006)

US Open: SF (1997)

Grand Slam doubles career

Australian Open: W (1998, 1999, 2001)

French Open: W (2005, 2006)

Wimbledon: W (2002, 2003, 2004)

US Open: W (2003)