They came together by chance. Having been discarded by the British team establishment, Pickard became the British representative for Wilson Rackets, the rackets Edberg started to use as a top junior.

When Percy Rosberg, the Swedish tennis professor who coached a young Bjorn Borg and then made Edberg change from a double-handed backhand, backed away from a full-time travelling commitment on the international circuit, Pickard seized the opportunity to work with a real talent. As a former coach to Britain's Gala Cup team and later as Davis Cup captain, Pickard was well qualified but no coach can do justice to his knowledge of the game if he does not enjoy a trusting relationship with his player.

Happily for both men, Edberg and Pickard immediately struck up a natural friendship which was nurtured by Pickard's ability to leave the young man to his own devices when necessary something Gunther Bosch did not manage to do with Becker.

With the trust and friendship cemented, Pickard was then in a position to make Edberg aware of just how far his talent could take him if he was prepared to push himself through the pain barrier. When all the hard clay-court preparation went down the drain with a defeat at the hands of Guillermo Perez-Roldan in Paris, Pickard started again. ``There was no time to mope,'' Pickard said. ``We just had to go back to the grass and work our rear ends off. I told him: `Look, fella, there are no short-cuts to winning Wimbledon'.''