The match, a great thrill and a breakthrough for young Stefan, has many great moments. But I find one particular moment especially endearing, as it speaks volumes of Stefan's character.
In the 7th game of the fourth set, Stefan was serving at 0-15. He was one break down in the game, with the match at 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 in his favor. Lendl had just called an injury break, and, throughout the match, had interrupted action by challenging line calls repeatedly. He was carrying on a feud with the umpire, a young Australian.
On this point, Lendl was returning on the ad court. Stefan, spotting a jaunty shirt with a touch of red, his longish blond hair flapping in the wind, wielded a serve that landed deftly on the T, right down the middle, a clean ace. Lendl stared, caught the ball; with his hands on his hips, he glared ferociously across the net at Stefan and did not move for a minute. He finally put the ball down on the baseline before trotting on to the deuce court. Stefan readied for the next serve. But, ignoring his opponent, Ivan began to mouth something to the umpire, apparently challenging that there was no call on a serve that he thought had faulted. The conversation was barely audible on my tape, but the young umpire could be heard to say "let's play" repeatedly, while Lendl, his hands on his hip, could be heard saying "I didn't ask to play, I ..." The dispute went on in public view for minutes, while Stefan waited patiently on the other side of the court. The crowd in the packed stadium grew impatient; faint boos can be heard.
Lendl finally settled down. With his next serve, what did Stefan do? As if to express his disapproval of the constant complaints of his garrulous opponent, Stefan spinned off another ace, this time from the opposite side, that landed in the exact same pinpoint spot, to show Ivan that that the last serve was no fluke. The crowd let out a collective hearty cheer, with whistles to follow. Lendl moved mutely to the other side.
Stefan went on to win that game, but lost the set after a rain delay. He would go on to win the fifth set to clinch his victory, to the delight of the Australian crowd.
I dare say that the one point I described won Stefan the affection of many an Australian in the crowd. As the world would come to know, Edberg is a man of few words. But that one defiant serve spoke loudly and clearly that, young as he was, Stefan could make a statement with his action, and was a force to be reckoned with.