1999
All-Swedish Final as the Clay Court Specialist Ignited
Borg, Wilander, and Edberg had left the stage, but Swedish tennis was still standing strong. At least at the Stockholm Open, where ten Swedes were in the starting lineup.
Three of them actually made it to the semifinals: Thomas Enqvist, Magnus Norman, and veteran Magnus Gustafsson, who was making his eleventh appearance in the tournament and reached his best result yet.
Magnus was best on clay and won in Båstad four times during his career. In Stockholm, he was unseeded but impressed from start to finish, especially when he knocked out Jonas Björkman in the quarterfinals with 6–4, 0–6, 7–5. A real nail-biter that had the audience fully engaged.
In the semifinal against American Jean-Michael Gambill, Magnus won the first set 6–0 and might have thought it would be an easy victory. But Gambill fought back, taking the second set, leading to another nerve-wracking third. Magnus eventually won 7–4 in the tiebreak.
However, there was no tournament win for Gustafsson. Thomas Enqvist had played top-notch tennis all week and won the final in straight sets. It was his third Stockholm Open title in five years.
1998
A Big Flop for Sampras
He was a relatively recent Wimbledon champion. He was on his way to becoming world number one again. He was the tennis king of the 1990s.
And Pete Sampras, the man with tennis’s most feared serve, came to the Stockholm Open after a four-year absence.
We had had our own world number ones for many years, but this was the biggest thing to happen to the tournament in a long time.
The reason he showed up was that he needed ranking points and asked for a wildcard. He got it.
But it all ended in disaster. Sampras was exhausted, almost burned out, and was knocked out in the first round by the relatively mediocre Australian Jason Stoltenberg (who was later eliminated in the quarterfinals by Thomas Johansson in straight sets).
Thomas advanced all the way to the final but lost to Todd Martin, one of Sampras’s fiercest competitors in the USA and worldwide. He had the misfortune of being at his peak at the same time as Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, and Michael Chang, and called himself "the fifth Beatle."
But in Stockholm in 1998, he was playing the lead role.
1997
Reneberg Finally a Winner
A real Stockholm Open fighter bid farewell to the audience at the Royal Tennis Hall this autumn.
American Richey Reneberg had traveled back and forth across the Atlantic for eleven years, to nearly every tournament, but rarely played more than two matches before it was time to pack up and move on. The guy clearly liked Stockholm.
He wasn’t a bad player, not at all, but every year he faced one of the big guns, and then it was over. Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, and Todd Martin knocked him out twice, Mikael Pernfors, Thomas Enqvist, and finally Frenchman Cédric Pioline each eliminated him once.
Still, Richey was able to end his love story with Stockholm Open as a winner. In 1997, he won the doubles tournament alongside German Marc-Kevin Goellner.
In singles, it was a Swedish victory for the third year in a row. But this time it wasn’t Thomas Enqvist who won, but 25-year-old Jonas Björkman from Alvesta, who lost the first set of the final to Dutchman Jan Siemerink but gathered himself to win three straight.
1996
An Emotional Farewell for Edberg
No Swede had been more loyal to the Stockholm Open than Stefan Edberg. He played his first match in the tournament in 1982 and entered every year until 1996. Fifteen seasons!
He won in Stockholm in 1986 and 1987 and also lost two finals, both times – in 1990 and 1991 – to Boris Becker.
The farewell to both the Stockholm Open and his ATP career was emotional. Edberg loved the Stockholm crowd, and the crowd loved Edberg.
He would have liked to bow out with a great success, but unfortunately, he was knocked out in the first round by his friend Nicklas Kulti. Kulti himself was then eliminated in the next round by Patrik Fredriksson.
The whole tournament was a Swedish success. Three of the semifinalists were Swedes, and Thomas Enqvist once again took the first prize. He won the final against Todd Martin in straight (though close) sets: 7–5, 6–4, 7–6.
It could have been an all-Swedish final, but Magnus Norman had to retire from the semifinal against Martin due to injury.
1995
Enqvist Went All the Way
The move from the Globe back to the classic venue on Lidingövägen was appreciated by most, even though the tournament was no longer classified as a Masters tournament.
Quite a few new players had the chance to showcase themselves in Stockholm. But not just new ones – for the first time in five years, 31-year-old Mats Wilander entered the tournament. The organizers rubbed their hands in delight, but Mats was rusty after several years of competition absence and was knocked out in the first round. He was eliminated by Mikael Tillström, who at his best was ranked 39th in singles.
Things went much better for Thomas Enqvist, who had a great 1995 season with five tournament victories. One of them was in Stockholm – he struggled against the German Dreekmann in the first round but then cruised through the tournament. Over the course of the week, he knocked out, among others, Stefan Edberg, and in the final against Frenchman Arnaud Boetsch, his baseline game was flawless. He won in straight sets.
1994
Last Tournament in the Globe
Continuing to play in the Globe started to seem rather pointless as Swedish dominance in world tennis had faded.
It simply wasn’t possible to attract 100,000 spectators to a tournament where the Swedes didn’t even make it to the semifinals. Therefore, it was only natural to bring the tournament back to its classic venue, the Royal Tennis Hall.
But this last tournament in the Globe couldn’t be avoided.
Of the nine Swedes who participated, the 24-year-old from Blekinge, Magnus Larsson, performed the best. He impressed in three rounds but had a bad day against Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals. Larsson lost in straight sets, and once again, no Swede reached the semifinals.
Croatian Goran Ivanišević reached his third consecutive Stockholm Open final but probably wasn’t in his best form. He had clear difficulties against both Swede Jan Apell and American Andre Agassi but managed to wriggle out of those tight spots thanks to his powerful serve.
It started well in the final against Boris Becker, with Ivanišević winning the first set, but Becker took control and won 3–1 in sets.
1993
Stich Enjoyed Sweden
The crowd returned somewhat to the Globe after the organizers had come up with some attractive new features. Unfortunately, none of the Swedish stars made it as far as the semifinals, although both Jonas Svensson and Stefan Edberg came fairly close.
1993 was German Michael Stich’s great "Swede-killer" year. First, he led his Germany team to a 5–0 Davis Cup victory against Sweden in Borlänge, and then he came to the Stockholm Open, defeating in succession Mikael Pernfors, Magnus Gustafsson, and Stefan Edberg on his way to the semifinal. There, he beat Swiss player Marc Rosset, and he capped it all off by frustrating Goran Ivanišević and winning the final 3–1 in sets.
Or frustrated... He rather beat the Croatian with his own weapon: a killer serve.
Yes, Stich certainly enjoyed Sweden in the early 1990s.
1992
Ivanišević Served His Way to Victory
Croatian Goran Ivanišević had already shown his feared serve and flair for dramatic effects in 1991 but had to withdraw due to injury.
Now he was back, and despite the organizers opting for a somewhat slower surface than before, he fired his serve cannons match after match.
He also returned well enough to win all his matches and thus claim the final victory and the prize money.
Stefan Edberg came close to eliminating Ivanišević in the semifinal but ultimately lost 6–4, 7–6 (10–8) – meaning the final was played without Swedish participation for the first time since 1981. Frenchman Guy Forget was the opponent in the final but was no match for Ivanišević.
The field was strong, but more top Swedes were needed to fill the Globe. Only Edberg and the young Henrik Holm managed to reach the quarterfinals.
1991
Becker Had to Work for the Victory
The field was top-notch. All four Grand Slam winners were present, including Stefan Edberg, who had found new momentum and won the U.S. Open in late summer. Ivan Lendl was also in attendance.
But it wasn’t Lendl’s tournament. He was knocked out in the third round by compatriot Petr Korda, who had once been a ball boy when Lendl played.
Edberg showed that he was still in shape, as did Becker. This led to a rematch of the previous year’s final between the two. However, this time it was a real battle – Becker won again, but not without fighting for every point. Stefan led 2–1 in sets, but Becker was the stronger player in the end, winning both the fourth and fifth sets 6–2.
Another old fighter returning to Stockholm was Jimmy Connors. He was now 38 years old and a real crowd favorite. But he was knocked out in the second round.
1990
Edberg in the Final but Kulti Stole the Show
Many from the world elite were in attendance – it was tempting to play in front of 12,000 spectators, and no other indoor tournament could offer that.
However, the lack of Swedish depth at the top was worrying. Of the 16 seeded players in the field, only two were Swedish: Stefan Edberg, seeded number one, and Jonas Svensson, seeded 15th.
Mats Wilander was unseeded and had the misfortune of facing Edberg in the second round. It was an easy match for Stefan, 6–4, 6–3, and he powered through to the final. Or... powered through isn’t the right phrase, he made his way with routine and strength, but never really convinced.
In the final, he faced a Boris Becker in top form and had no chance. The German won 6–4, 6–0, 6–3.
The big Swedish breakthrough was 19-year-old Nicklas Kulti, who reached the quarterfinals and was seen as Sweden's next big hope.
