At that juncture, the
American players did not, like the Sampras and Agassi of later days, opt out of this event. For this particular
meet, the American contingent included John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors,
Aaron Kricstein, and Peter Fleming. The captain was Arthur Ashe. McEnroe
was then 25, and at the peak of his power. The McEnore-Fleming
doubles team was ranked number 1 in the world, and, in the 14 Davis-Cup matches that
they played preceding this one, had yet to lose. In spite of the
big names that it boasts, this U.S.
team was a troubled team. There was friction among the players and the captain,
as described in Ashe's book "Days of Grace."
Sweden, the host country, had the red-hot 20-year old Mats Wilander,
Henrik Sunstrom, also 20, Anders Jarryd, 23, and a then relative unknown,
Stefan Edberg, only 18. Stefan had won the junior grand slam at age 16, but
had yet to blossom on the men's tour. Earlier that year, however, he had
beaten Mats Wilander in Milan on carpet.
Just how little known was Edberg is evident: Stefan was the first to serve; the
ESPN commentator Jim Simpson thought he was Jarryd, and continued to do so
for the first few games until Cliff Drysdale and Fred Stolle, the other
commentators, corrected him.
At 18, Stefan was already tall and well built. He wore his blond hair short
and thick, looking much like he did in the 1983 photo shown above (borrowed
from
a page on Mauro's STE fan site). Unfortunately, the camera technology
at that time did not afford many closeups of the players, and so there were
only glimpses of Stefan when he was in motion.
These things were remarkable:
- At 18, Stefan already had a beautiful one-handed backhand: only a few
years back he had a two-handed backhand that's typical of Swedish players.
- Even at that young age, Stefan had tremendous aplomb and his indomitable spirit
was in evidence.
Twice he was serving at love-40 and, with the able help of Anders, were able
to finish the match without being broken once - the only one of the four players
who did so.
- Perhaps because they were not familiar with him, both McEnroe and Fleming --
seasoned players though they were -- had trouble with Stefan's kick serve. In
one shot, you could clearly see how Stefan's serve, "with a lot of horse power
behind it," spinned up above McEnroe's shoulder so that all John could do was
to flail at it , to no avail. McEnroe looked bewildered.
- The lightning-quick volleys were already in evidence. At least once Stefan
struck the ball at such an incredible angle that Drysdale stumbled for words
in praise.
It made me smile to hear how the commentators gradually took note of "the youngster."
Several times I yelled at the TV: "You guys had no idea who you're talking about."
Fred Stolle was at the court side and it might well be the beginning of his
great respect for Stefan. In the third set,
a zealous spectator's yell caused a game point to Sweden to be nullified, resulting
in the game going to the U.S. instead. There was much commotion. John McEnroe
protested vigorously. Both captains spoke to the umpire. Stefan and Anders
looked on, each with his hands grasping his waist, obviously miffed. As Stefan started
to serve, Stolle commented that "this youngster had better forget about what happened
and concentrate on the next game. Right now." Sure enough Stefan went on to serve
brilliantly and won the game with little effort, a preview of the unflappable champion that
the world was soon to see.
The match ended in four sets. At the end, an overjoyed Jarryd grasped Stefan in a
tight embrace, and the two spinned around in glee. Unfortunately the camera did not
manage to penetrate the throng gathered around the victorious Swedish contingent, and little
could be seen of Stefan. What a waste. Sigh.
Here's a photo of the 1985 team -- not the 1984 team, but the Sweden team is virtually the
same -- from the collection of Albert M.
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