The 21st century
Sweden · born Alvesta, 1972 · three times Wimbledon doubles champion · singles semi-finalist at 34
All playersBack to the rankings
3
Wimbledon doubles titles in a row, 2002 to 2004
9
Major doubles titles, all four majors
34
His age at the 2006 Wimbledon semi-final
2
Nottingham singles titles, 1998 and 2002
54
Tour doubles titles
Born in Alvesta, southern Sweden, in 1972, the son of a coach, Björkman turned professional in 1991. He won six singles titles, reached the US Open semi-finals in 1997 and rose to No. 4 in singles that November. Doubles brought his greater success: 54 titles, the No. 1 ranking in 2001, and nine major titles that completed the career set, with Jacco Eltingh, Patrick Rafter, Todd Woodbridge and Max Mirnyi. He played in Sweden's Davis Cup winning teams of 1994, 1997 and 1998. He retired from singles in 2008, came back for one doubles event in Stockholm in 2013, and later coached Andy Murray in 2015 and Marin Čilić.
| Wimbledon doubles | Champion 2002, 2003 and 2004 with Todd Woodbridge; runner-up 2008 with Kevin Ullyett |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon mixed | Runner-up 1999 with Anna Kournikova and 2007 with Alicia Molik |
| Wimbledon singles | Semi-finalist 2006, unseeded, lost to Roger Federer 6-2, 6-0, 6-2; fourth round on his debut in 1994 |
| Finals to remember | 2002: beat Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. 2003: beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. 2004: beat Julian Knowle and Nenad Zimonjić 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 |
| Other grass singles titles | Nottingham 1998 and 2002; runner-up Nottingham 2006 |
| Other grass doubles titles | Queen's 1994 with Jan Apell; Halle 1999 with Patrick Rafter and 2003 with Woodbridge |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Men's doubles | with Todd Woodbridge |
| 2003 | Men's doubles | with Todd Woodbridge |
| 2004 | Men's doubles | with Todd Woodbridge |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1994 | Men's doubles | with Jan Apell |
| 1998 | Men's doubles‡ | with Patrick Rafter |
| Nottingham | ||
| 1998 | Men's singles | |
| 2002 | Men's singles | |
| Halle | ||
| 1999 | Men's doubles | with Patrick Rafter |
| 2003 | Men's doubles | with Todd Woodbridge |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Every year I come to Wimbledon and I feel like a kid during Christmas."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1994
On his first visit he won a five-set match against Mark Petchey, later Andy Murray's coach, and reached the fourth round. "That was my biggest dream: to be part of Wimbledon one year and participate and play," he said. He came back 14 more times before he stopped playing.
Source: The ScotsmanWimbledon 2006
His quarter-final against Radek Štěpánek took about four hours of play but, with two rain breaks, stretched over nearly seven. He let a 5-3 lead slip in the first set, saved a match point in the fourth-set tiebreak and won in five, while Martina Hingis cheered for his opponent from the stands.
Source: The LocalCentre Court 2006
In the semi-final Roger Federer, on a run of 47 straight grass wins, beat him 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 in an hour and 17 minutes. Björkman had never taken a set from Federer. The crowd gave him a huge cheer when he held serve in the third set; he won only one more game.
Source: The LocalArgentina 2006 · Davis Cup
After a night out with his Swedish teammates he played a dead rubber against José Acasuso and lost 6-0, 6-1. He later told Expressen: "You've had a few beers the evening before and not all [of the alcohol] was gone." On retiring he said he would miss the trash talk in the locker rooms.
Source: The GuardianStockholm 2015
On Let's Dance, Sweden's version of Strictly Come Dancing, he partnered Veera Kinnunen and finished third, behind only the two finalists. He found learning the routines terrifying, but said the live shows were no problem: "It was like going in on Centre Court."
Source: The ScotsmanWimbledon 2018 · Invitation doubles
Hit in the back by a ball from his partner Todd Woodbridge, he laughed, then clutched his stomach, fell and rolled on the grass in the manner of Neymar at that summer's World Cup. Mansour Bahrami, on the other side with Goran Ivanišević, climbed over the net to give him mock resuscitation.
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