Sven Davidson

Playing career

Sven Davidson was born in Borås on 13 July 1928 and was Swedish junior champion in 1947. He won the Swedish singles title every year from 1950 to 1960 and 26 national titles in all, and he was ranked in the world's top ten from 1953 to 1958.

He lost the French Championships final in 1955 to Tony Trabert and in 1956 to Lew Hoad, then won it in 1957, beating Herbert Flam 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 for the first Grand Slam title won by a Swede. The same summer he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, where Hoad beat him, and the semi-finals of the US Championships. In 1958 he and Ulf Schmidt won the Wimbledon doubles unseeded. On the winter circuit in India he won the national championships in 1951 and 1952. He played Davis Cup for Sweden from 1950 to 1961, winning 62 of his 85 rubbers.

After playing he covered tennis for Swedish television from 1960 to 1964, argued for open tennis and helped found the Stockholm Open in 1969. He later lived in Arcadia, California, with his wife Mary, to whom he was married for 51 years. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007 and died of pneumonia in Arcadia on 28 May 2008, aged 79.

On grass

Every grass title: 3

Show every title, tournament by tournament

Wimbledon
1958	Men's doubles	with Ulf Schmidt
All India Championships
1951	Men's singles
1952	Men's singles

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