The Open Era
Sweden · born Växjö, 1964 · right-handed · Australian Open champion on grass in 1983 and 1984, Wimbledon doubles champion 1986
All playersBack to the rankings
7
Major singles titles, two of them on grass
3
Australian Open finals in a row on grass, 1983 to 1985
1986
Wimbledon doubles champion with Joakim Nyström
3
Wimbledon singles quarter-finals, 1987 to 1989
1988
Year-end world No. 1, after three majors
Mats Wilander was born in Växjö, Sweden, in 1964 and grew up playing ice hockey and football as well as tennis. He won the junior French Open, turned professional at 16 in 1980 and in 1982, unseeded and aged 17, won the French Open, beating Ivan Lendl, Vitas Gerulaitis, José Luis Clerc and Guillermo Vilas.
He won seven major singles titles: the French Open in 1982, 1985 and 1988, the Australian Open in 1983 and 1984 on the grass at Kooyong and in 1988 on hard courts, and the US Open in 1988. That year he won three of the four majors and finished as world No. 1. He won 33 singles titles, helped Sweden to the Davis Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1987, and later captained the team from 2003 to 2009.
Wimbledon's grass was his weakest stage in singles; he never passed the quarter-finals. In doubles he won the title there in 1986 with Joakim Nyström. In 1995 he tested positive for cocaine at the French Open and in 1997 accepted a three-month ATP suspension. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2002 and lives in Hailey, Idaho.
| Australian Open 1983 | Beat John McEnroe 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-finals and Ivan Lendl 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in the final, at 19 |
|---|---|
| Australian Open 1984 and 1985 | 1984: beat Kevin Curren 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 in the final. 1985: lost the final to Stefan Edberg 4-6, 3-6, 3-6 |
| Wimbledon doubles 1986 | With Joakim Nyström, seeded seven: saved six match points in a quarter-final against Ken Flach and Robert Seguso, won 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 11-9, then beat Gary Donnelly and Peter Fleming 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final |
| Wimbledon singles | Quarter-finals in 1987, 1988 and 1989. In 1988, holding the Australian and French titles, he lost to Miloslav Mečíř 3-6, 1-6, 3-6, ending his chance of a calendar Grand Slam |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Men's doubles | with Joakim Nyström |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1983 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
| 1984 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
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
"Wilander's mind is a weapon."
The person behind the player.
Växjö, 1970s
His father Einar, who had played since the 1940s, watched the Davis Cup on television and the next day turned the car park of the local factory into a tennis court. That was how his son came to the game.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameRoland-Garros, June 1982
At match point in the semi-final against José Luis Clerc, a Clerc forehand was called out and the umpire, Jacques Dorfmann, announced Wilander the winner. Wilander walked over and asked for the point to be replayed. "I told him, 'I can't win like that,'" he said. "He hit a winner." Moments later he won the match cleanly, and then the final.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, 1982; BNP Paribas We Are TennisKooyong, December 1984
After losing the final, Kevin Curren said he had never played anyone on grass who made so many returns from below the net: "I felt the whole time I was volleying off my shoes or hitting a half volley."
Source: Wikipedia, quoting The Canberra Times, 10 December 1984Wimbledon 1986
He and Joakim Nyström were six match points down in their quarter-final against the Americans Ken Flach and Robert Seguso, four in the third set and two in the fifth at 4-5, and won 11-9 in the fifth. They went on to take the title.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Wimbledon 2012
Thirty years after the Clerc match point, the International Club gave him its Jean Borotra Sportsmanship Award, presented at Wimbledon.
Source: WikipediaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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