A fan's account of the Fantasy Camp
Photo by Rachelle
I had a wonderful time! This is the first time I had ever seen Edberg in person and he looks even better than he does on television and in photos. On Friday afternoon before the camp began, I had the privilege of watching him warm up on one of the courts. To me he looked exactly the same as he did in 1996 the year he retired - just as fit, sharp and handsome, wearing the same Adidas tennis whites. It’s like time had stood still. I couldn't figure out at first who he was hitting with; both Edberg and the other gentleman were speaking Swedish. I then figured out his partner was Carl Axl Hakeskog (spelling???). This was the long time Swedish Davis Cup Captain and he is also working with Stefan at the tennis academy back in Vaxjo. So apparently he was there in place of Tony Pickard, who I guess was not able to make it. During the hitting session, I was extremely impressed with how well Stefan was striking the ball and how concentrated he looked. It's not till you see him in person and not on television, that you fully appreciate how cleanly and beautifully he strikes the ball. He was all business and really the embodiment of total professionalism, even though he was warming up for a fantasy clinic, not a big match.
On Friday evening, the first clinic with Stefan was held, with help from students from Mexico State University, I believe. First, Stefan and 'Coach Carl' as I'll refer to him -:) demonstrated a series of drills that Stefan would use in practice. A few in my mind really stuck out. One was where Edberg would run to the net, strike the center post of the net with his racket, and then turn around run back, and smash an overhead after 'Coach Carl' fed him a lob. Stefan also demonstrated his kick serves and 'Coach Carl' jokingly said that when he played tennis in the 1800's there was no such thing as kick serves and that Stefan invented it -:) Perhaps Stefan should patent the move then -:) Edberg explained how he arches his back (he recommended not doing that by the way because of the strain it causes). He then demonstrated the spin he puts on the ball to get it to kick so high. In person, you really get a sense of how truly difficult it is to return this serve because it bounces so high! He was very articulate and clear in explaining how he hits his serves, volleys, etc. He is a good instructor. The last drill that Stefan did that really impressed me was where 'Coach Carl' fed him a series of short balls at the net, with the object being that Edberg could not let a single one bounce before volleying them away. This drill was extremely fast paced and looked grueling, but Edberg handled it like was a piece of cake, displaying the same touch and angles he perfected so well during his playing days! Stefan explained that during his career he didn't go to the gym much; instead he used on-court drills like this one to get his tennis fitness level so high. So it obviously worked for him and is still working! Coach Carl joked that in Sweden in Christmas time while everyone is eating turkey, Stefan is doing this drill for hours a day to get ready for the Australian Open -:)
After Stefan demonstrated some of these drills, it was our time to put them into practice with some games and contests. So with the help of the college students, us campers did similar drills and they were pretty difficult. I did just o.k. I struggled with the overhead smash one, missing several in a row in fact. I was a little nervous with everyone watching (especially with Edberg there -:), plus I've been struggling with a pulled calf muscle the last couple of months, which has really hampered my movement. But I still had fun! They gave tickets away for those who won at the various drills and some of those who had tickets, were able to hit with Stefan at the end of the night. Stefan was very patient, and played to the level of whoever he was hitting with. He was very relaxed and joking around quite a bit with it all.
Then there was a brief Q &A session. One of the biggest questions of course is whether Stefan would be joining up with the Seniors tour. He said that they have been trying to get him to join up for the last five years and the answer is still the same - he does not want to go back into the traveling lifestyle that this would demand of him. He enjoys doing the exhibitions a couple of times a year, etc.... but that is all. You really have to respect and admire his stance on this. Another person asked who Stefan ’hated to lose to’ during his playing career. Stefan said that hate was a strong word, but he hated to lose to Boris Becker and loved to win against him -:) Someone asked also if he would be coming back next year to do this camp again and he responded coyly, “Well everyone’s been very nice so far, so keep it up and we’ll see...” Then this session was wrapped up, with an autograph signing. So most of the campers stood in line to get his autograph. I had him sign a white hat of mine and he signed his name very neatly -:). I thanked him and he politely said 'your welcome'.
A lot of people were taking photos and wanting autographs and he was very patient with all of that. We then went back to the hotel for a welcome reception/ cocktail party and Stefan was kind enough to be there for that as well. He mingled and talked with many people, sitting at a couple of different tables with different groups of people during the evening. He was dressed very sharply in navy blue with a nice tie -:). However, I was not sitting at a table that he came to and I was too shy to approach him -:) But others did and he was very nice with them. For someone who seems naturally shy and reserved, I thought it was very classy of Stefan to make an effort to talk with so many of the people there. And the people were very receptive and appreciative of that.
The next morning, we were up at 6:30 a.m. (yes 6:30 a.m!!). First there was breakfast, then we were able to see Stefan warm up with Meghan Shaughnessy. Both were all business and very professional again, striking the ball with perfect technique and power. Meghan was very classy as well and I will be rooting for her this year in all the slams! After they warmed up, each of the us had our pictures taken with Meghan and Stefan. I said good morning to both of them and they responded in kind. They both were very nice and talked with each person that came up to be photographed, despite the fact that it was chilly, pitch black outside and too darn early in the morning to be up on a Saturday to be taking pictures! Then there was a series of group photos taken. After that 'Coach Carl’ demonstrated similar drills with Stefan that he did from the night before. Then it was time for us campers to do some drills and games. We each had an opportunity to hit for a few minutes with Stefan as he was on one of the courts for one of the drills. This drill involved us trying to hit an approach shot and following it up to the net against Edberg. Well I'm definitely a baseliner and I wanted no part of the net against Stefan, but he wasn't having any of that -:) So after a few baseline shots back and forth, Stefan forced me to come to the net, and I flubbed a couple of these exchanges because I was quite nervous. But luckily I contained my nerves enough to hit some shots back against him -:) He was very patient. He hit the ball at a nice pace, and gave lots of encouragement to everyone, giving congratulations, when someone hit a nice shot against him. I did get a high five from 'Coach Carl' at some point during the day. He was very funny and had a dry Swedish sense of humor similar to Edberg’s (they were having a good time with each other on court during their demonstrations -:). Meghan Shaughnessy also was helping out on another court at another drill giving some tips and encouragement. These drills lasted till about 11:00 in the morning. Later in the afternoon, there was a series of round robin matches for us campers. Stefan was not there at my session, but we all had a blast with it.
Many of the ITUSA coaches were there helping out, and all were very nice and helpful. Later that evening it was time for dinner at a Mexican style restaurant called Los Olivos Restaurant, a very authentic casual restaurant, better for the atmosphere than the food. And the wonderful surprise was that Stefan was there too! He was sitting at a table with the Adidas people responsible for putting on the event and some of the other coaches. He looked gorgeous and it was hard to take your eyes off him! He had on a nice sharp black leather jacket, a white shirt, and blue jeans! Wow! (I kicked myself for not having my camera with me). It was a funny site to see a Swede trying to decipher what the foods were at the Mexican buffet. He was asking the servers what each of the items were exactly -:) The host of the camp joked that Stefan had tears coming out his of eyes, when he first had a bite of the nachos and salsa. I gather there aren’t too many Mexican restaurants in Sweden -:) After dinner, Stefan was kind enough to speak to everyone, taking the microphone, thanking us all for coming and participating in the camp. They raffled away some prizes to those who won a lot of tickets at the drills from the afternoon. There were several signed rackets of Stefan and Meghan that were given away. Stefan shook the hands of the prize winners, and he posed for pictures with quite a few people who came up to talk to him. (I was too shy to do so).
The next morning, there were more drills and games. I didn’t see Stefan participate in any of these ones, but he was watching the action and smiling. He was watching one of the drills I was in, and kindly stepped in for one of the other coaches in the middle of it. I was involved in one of the points, but unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to hit a ball back to him, as the balls landed in my partner‘s direction. Still it was a blast to have him playing out there with for us, if only for a few moments.
After the drills, there was another surprise: Martina Hingis and several of the worlds top junior players had a hitting session. And then they had some more Q&A with Stefan and Martina. A lot of the questions for Stefan were similar from the night before. Stefan said his favorite players to watch today are Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardin (probably because there styles are similar to his). After the Q&A session, the winners of the morning drills and games, were chosen in a raffle to play in doubles tie-breakers with Hingis and Edberg. Stefan was very relaxed and having fun with it all. In the tie-breaker, one of the guys who was playing against him, was teasing him and talking a lot of trash -:) At one point, he said Stefan was ‘too old’ to get a kick serve past him. Stefan then replied in a very serious tone of voice that he would give this guy a hundred $100 if he was able to return his next serve. Stefan then intentionally smacked the kick serve so high, that it went over the fence - a literal home run....Everyone roared! Stefan then calmly hit the next serve perfectly in the box and the guy didn’t have a chance to get it back of course. After the tie-breaker, Stefan signed more autographs and took more pictures. Throughout the camp, he was smiling, joking, and very relaxed. I did not see his family at all, but they were traveling with him apparently. Someone asked him how his family were and he said they were ‘getting better’. Apparently the kids, had caught some of the flu or the bug that’s been going around, so that is perhaps why they and his wife were not in attendance at any of the events -
To sum it up, I left this camp thoroughly impressed with Stefan’s class. I am sure he was given some financial compensation by Adidas to be there. But for him to fly all the way from Sweden, and be so kind and generous with his time for all these events in the clinic was a wonderful gesture on his part. The only disappointment was not being able to hit with him longer on the court and have a conversation with him. But the attendance at this camp exceeded I think what ITUSA anticipated, with some 80 some participants! So understandably it was hard to get that much one-on-one time with him. But on the other hand, the attendance and enthusiasm that this event generated and seeing Stefan enjoying it, was truly heart-warming to see. I was also impressed with the intensity of the camp (the difficulty of the drills, the early morning start times). The host joked that the camp was now called the ‘Stefan Edberg Boot Camp’. This was not a hit and giggle, as many of the drills were aimed at improving net play and were quite difficult and exhausting in my mind. I am glad that it was like this though. As it shows us that Stefan was taking this seriously and wanted the participants to get something meaningful out of it! Considering the amount of people in attendance, I thought the camp was run as best as it could be given the circumstances.
Everyone was very impressed with how gentlemanly and kind Stefan was. I am sure he will have many proud supporters in attendance when he is inducted into the Hall of Fame (finally -:).