This year’s Australian Open marked the 20th anniversary of Thomas Enqvist’s finest moment in a grand slam as a player.
The Swede, who was 25 at the time, entered the 1999 draw at Melbourne Park as an unseeded player. He had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a grand slam before, but stunned everyone with consecutive wins over Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis. The run saw him reach the final of the tournament where he had a 6-4 lead against Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, before losing in four sets. That was to be Enqvist’s first and only taste of what it is like to play in a major final.
“Result wise, this was the best one. It was a good memory.” The 44-year-old said during an interview with Ubitennis. “Of course it is always hard to look back to a final that you lost, but it is still a good memory.”
Enqvist played during a time where Swedish men enjoyed extensive success in tennis. At the time of his run to the Australian Open final, the country had eight players ranked in the top 80. Besides Enqvist, there were Thomas Johansson, Jonas Bjorkman and Magnus Norman all making their inroads on the tour. Sweden were also the reigning Davis Cup champions. Unknown to them at the time, that would be the last time the country would win the team tournament.
It is without a doubt that the country has a rich tennis tradition. In the past Sweden has also produced tennis stars such as Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Jonas Bjorkman and Robin Soderling, who was the last player to win a ATP singles trophy back in 2011. So where did it all go wrong for the Swede’s?
“I think we still have a very strong tennis tradition in Sweden. We have a lot of people involved in Swedish tennis that have good knowledge and their heart in the right place.” Enqvist explained.
“We definitely need a player that can break through and can generate a little bit of hype because it’s all about getting the sports channel in Sweden to show tennis again.”
At present there are just four players from the Nordic country that has an official ATP ranking. Their star players are brothers Elias (22) and Mikael (20) Ymer. Both are yet to break into the world’s top 100. Elias came the closest at 105th last June. Further down the field, there is Markus Eriksson at 523rd and Linus Frost at 658th.
Due to the lack of top players, trying to maintain mass interest in the sport has become a problem in recent years. As pointed out by Enqvist, who noted the lack of mainstream Swedish media covering the Australian Open this year.
“I think it is a shame that we cannot have more media here (in Melbourne), even if we don’t have any players.” He said.
“If we can’t create enough interest at home how can we get kids interested in tennis? I think everybody has a little bit of responsibility, but it is not an easy situation.” He added.
Despite a seemingly dismal situation, hope lies with the next generation of players. There are currently two Swedish boys ranked in the top 100 on the junior circuit. Meanwhile, others are also gradually coming through.
“We have a bunch of players, who are 15 now. It’s one of the first generations that we have more than one or two.” Enqvist explained.
“This is actually a group of five or six that are international competitors. Hopefully one or two of these perform.”
Whist Enqvist is hopeful, for the foreseeable future, it looks like the lull in Swedish tennis will continue. A somewhat sad situation for a country that once dominated the sport.
