Stefan Edberg enjoyed a legendary tennis career, winning six Major titles during his 14 years as a professional.
Now 59 years of age, Edberg once dominated the ATP Tour, taking home a mouth-watering 41 career titles.
Six of those came at the Grand Slam level, as the Swede secured two victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
When he retired in 1996, he did so, having won the seventh most Open Era men’s Grand Slam titles, trailing some of the sport’s greatest-ever players.
Only Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, and Mats Wilander had won more than Edberg when he hung up his racket 29 years ago.
Since then, four more players have surpassed his tally of six, as Edberg complimented one of them back in 2004.
Stefan Edberg said Roger Federer was the ‘most exciting’ player to watch back in 2004
During a press conference announcing his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame, Edberg was asked who his favorite player to watch on tour was.
“If I had to choose one to watch today, I think Roger Federer is the most exciting player to watch out there because he plays an all-over-court game,” he said.
“He plays serve and volley, can play from the back of the court, at least that is what I like to see out there.
“But like I said before, a little bit more variation wouldn’t hurt the game, to have a little bit more contrast of styles, because that usually makes it a little bit more interesting.”
His comments came during a period when the likes of Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe had publicly complained that tennis was becoming ‘one dimensional’.
Edberg, a major practitioner of the ‘serve and volley’ technique, agreed but understood that tennis needed to evolve.
“Obviously, tennis goes through changes and cycles, you know, having been away from the game now for a couple of years since I stopped here obviously, looking at the game today, one would wish to see a little bit more variation of play out there,” he said.
“But at the same time, you know, tennis makes progress, might not be as exciting as it was in the past, but it depends who you ask.
“Younger people may be of a different opinion, I’m not quite sure.
“But it’s hard to make changes, but at least one can look at it.
“If there is anything that can be done to improve the game, you should always look at those things.”
Comparing Roger Federer and Stefan Edberg’s ATP Tour careers
Edberg enjoyed a stellar career on tour that very few players could even have dreamed of replicating.
The Swiss star was one of those players, however, as he won 20 Major titles during his time in tennis, cementing his legacy as a true legend of the game.
| Name | Grand Slam titles | Weeks at number one | Masters 1000 titles | Year-end championships | ATP titles |
| Roger Federer | 20 | 310 | 28 | 6 | 103 |
| Stefan Edberg | 6 | 72 | 8 | 1 | 41 |
Federer won a record 103 ATP titles, with his final crown coming at his home Basel Open in 2019.
Approaching the end of his career, Federer rolled back the years one final time in Switzerland, as he stormed to the title without dropping a set.
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| F | Alex de Minaur | 6-2, 6-2 |
| SF | [3] Stefanos Tsitsipas | 6-4, 6-4 |
| QF | [7] Stan Wawrinka | W/O |
| 2R | Radu Albot | 6-0, 6-3 |
| 1R | Peter Gojowczyk | 6-2, 6-1 |
Federer dropped just four games in the final as he eased to victory against his Australian opponent, 6-2, 6-2.
The title was his tenth in Basel, making him the first player to win ten titles at two tournaments on different surfaces, having done so in Halle, Germany, earlier that same year.
Federer retired in 2022 as one of the greatest players to have ever graced a tennis court.
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