Juniors Born in
Växjö, Sweden, Wilander first came to the tennis world's attention when he won the French Open junior title, the European under-16 and under-18 championships, and the
Orange Bowl under-16 event in
Miami.
1980–1981: Early years Wilander made his debut on the professional tour at the clay court tournament in
Båstad, Sweden in 1980. In June 1981 he made his Grand Slam singles debut at Wimbledon, losing in the third round to
John Fitzgerald. The Canberra Times said "16-year-old Mats Wilander, who many say will become the new Borg." In September 1981, he lost his only career match against
Björn Borg, losing in the first round of the
Geneva Open in straight sets. Wilander reached his first ATP final in November 1981 in Bangkok, losing in straight sets to
Bill Scanlon.
1982–1983: Teenage Grand Slam champion Wilander surprised the tennis world at the
1982 French Open. As an unseeded player, he upset second seed
Ivan Lendl in the fourth round, fifth seed
Vitas Gerulaitis in the quarterfinals, fourth seed
José Luis Clerc in the semifinals, and third seed
Guillermo Vilas in a four-set final that lasted 4 hours and 47 minutes (the longest French singles final played up until that point) and was notable for its long rallies, the longest point taking 90 strokes. At the end of the semifinal against Clerc he requested replay of the match ball as he did not want to win the game due to a questionable referee decision. This was seen as an extraordinary display of fair play and garnered him the
Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy. He was the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 9 months, a record since broken by
Boris Becker and
Michael Chang. In only his third entry in a Grand Slam tournament, Wilander also became the player who needed the fewest attempts to win one, a record since equaled by
Gustavo Kuerten at the
1997 French Open. Wilander then lost in the fourth round at both
Wimbledon, to
Brian Teacher, and the
US Open to Lendl. Wilander won three additional tournaments in 1982 and finished the year ranked no. 7. During that year, Wilander was awarded the
Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. Wilander returned to the
French Open in 1983, where he lost to
Yannick Noah in the final, after defeating
John McEnroe in a quarterfinal. He lost in the third round at
Wimbledon to
Roscoe Tanner and in the quarterfinals of the
US Open to Lendl. Wilander won his second Grand Slam title later that year at the
Australian Open, played on
grass at
Kooyong Stadium, where he defeated McEnroe in a semifinal and Lendl in straight sets in the final, which was a 'baseline battle". He won eight other tournaments in 1983, including two Grand Prix
Championship Series titles, and finished the year ranked no. 4.
1984–1985: Continuing success Wilander retained his
Australian Open title in 1984, beating
Stefan Edberg in the quarterfinals and
Kevin Curren in the final. "I don't think I've ever played anyone on grass who consistently makes as many returns as he does from below the net. I felt the whole time I was volleying off my shoes or hitting a half volley and unless you hit a great half volley he goes for the passing shots" said Curren afterwards. He lost in the semifinals of the
French Open to Lendl, the second round at
Wimbledon to
Pat Cash, and the quarterfinals of the
US Open to Cash. He won three tournaments in 1984 including his third Championships Series title and again finished the year ranked no. 4. In 1985, Wilander won the
French Open for the second time, defeating Lendl in the final. "Wilander, advancing often to the net to hit home volleys, added lobs and passes to his repertoire ... Lendl's serve let him down". He again reached the
Australian Open final, where he lost to Edberg. However, he lost in the first round at
Wimbledon to
Slobodan Živojinović and the semifinals of the
US Open to McEnroe. He won three tournaments in 1985 and finished the year ranked no. 3.
1986–1987: Regular top 3 player but Grand Slam singles drought Wilander rose to the no. 2 ranking, behind Lendl, on 28 April 1986. He then lost in the third round of the
French Open to
Andrei Chesnokov, the fourth round of
Wimbledon to Cash, and the fourth round of the
US Open to
Miloslav Mečíř. His consistency at other tournaments, however, allowed him to again finish the year ranked no. 3. Wilander partnered with countryman
Joakim Nyström to win the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1986. He also won his fourth Grand Prix Championship Series title. The 1987 season saw Wilander unveil a more potent service and a new highly effective one-handed slice backhand, the latter a somewhat remarkable development for a mid-career top-level tennis professional. Despite the improvements, however, Wilander was defeated by Lendl in the finals of both the
French Open and the
US Open (in a match lasting 4 hours and 47 minutes, the longest singles final in the tournaments history, surpassed the following year). Cash again proved to be Wilander's nemesis at
Wimbledon, winning their quarterfinal match in straight sets. Wilander won five tournaments in 1987 including two
Grand Prix Tennis Championship Series titles and six overall, finishing the year ranked third in the world for the third consecutive year.
1988: Best year 1988 was the pinnacle of Wilander's career. In January, he won his third
Australian Open singles title, this time on
Melbourne Park's
hardcourts, defeating Edberg in a five-set semifinal and home town favourite Cash in a five-set final which Wilander won with "steady baseline play, a few successful forays to the net and a cool head in times of pressure". In doing so, he became the only player to win the Australian Open on both grass and hardcourt. Wilander faced another home crowd favourite,
Henri Leconte, in the final of the
French Open. Wilander won in straight sets, missing only two out of 73 first serves in the entire match. At
Wimbledon, Wilander reached the quarterfinals where he lost to
Mečíř. At the
US Open, he reached his third Grand Slam final of the year. In a repeat match-up of the previous year's final, he defeated Lendl in five sets in 4 hours 54 minutes (the longest US Open singles final to that point) and ended Lendl's three-year reign at the top of the world rankings. This was Wilander's seventh Grand Slam singles title and resulted in his receiving the number one ranking, having won three of the year's Grand Slam tournaments, two more Grand Prix Championship Series titles at Key Biscayne and Cincinnati, and one other title in Palermo. He held the top ranking for a total of 20 weeks until Lendl reclaimed it at the end of January 1989. Wilander's 1988 title at
Cincinnati was his fourth there, at the time making him one of only three players since 1899 to win four titles in Cincinnati, along with
Bobby Riggs and
George Lott.
Roger Federer has since joined the list.
1989–1991: Decline Wilander's motivation, results, and ranking suffered in 1989. He lost in the second round of the
Australian Open to
Ramesh Krishnan, the quarterfinals of the
French Open to
Andrei Chesnokov, the quarterfinals of
Wimbledon to
John McEnroe, and the second round of the
US Open to
Pete Sampras. He did not win a tournament during 1989 and he finished the year ranked World No. 12. Wilander briefly moved back into the top 10 rankings on 12 February 1990, but by the end of the year, his ranking had slumped to World No. 41. He defeated
Boris Becker in the quarterfinals of the
Australian Open, only to lose to
Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the semifinals. He skipped the
French Open and
Wimbledon and lost in the first round of the
US Open to
Brad Gilbert. He won the final singles title of his career at Itaparica. Wilander played only the first half of 1991. He lost in the fourth round of the
Australian Open and the second round of the
French Open. He finished the year ranked world No. 159.
1993–1996: Final years Wilander was absent from the tour in 1992. He played seven tournaments in 1993, losing in the first round of five of them. At the
US Open, he lost in the third round to
Cédric Pioline. He finished the year ranked World No. 330. Except for
Wimbledon, Wilander played a full schedule in 1994. He lost in the fourth round of the
Australian Open to
MaliVai Washington, the first round of the
French Open to
Andre Agassi in straight sets, and the first round of the
US Open to
Guy Forget. His only victory over a top ten player was in the second round of the tournament in Indianapolis against
Todd Martin. He finished the year ranked World No. 129. Wilander's results improved slightly in 1995 as he finished the year ranked World No. 46. After losing in the first round of the
Australian Open to
Jacco Eltingh, he lost in the second round of the
French Open to eighth ranked
Wayne Ferreira. He then lost in the third round of
Wimbledon to Eltingh and the second round of the
US Open to Martin. At
Canadian Open in
Montreal, Wilander won his final tour match against Edberg, then beat eighth ranked Ferreira and sixth ranked
Yevgeny Kafelnikov before losing to Agassi in the semis. before losing to Agassi in the semis. In 1996, Wilander reached the final of the
Pinehurst ATP tournament in May, losing to
Fernando Meligeni (it was Wilander's first ATP tournament final since 1990). He played only one Grand Slam tournament, losing in the second round of the
French Open to Martin. He retired from the tour after losing his final match to
Martin Damm in Beijing in October. During most of his career, Wilander used the Rossignol F-200 Carbon tennis racquet, an early fiberglass model.
Failed drug test and suspension During the
1995 French Open he and
Karel Nováček tested positive for cocaine. They appealed the initial three-month suspension by the
International Tennis Federation, claiming flawed test procedures but withdrew their appeals in May 1997 and on 15 May 1997 received a three-month suspension from the ATP Tour for failing a drugs test. Additionally Wilander had to return his prize money since May 1995, amounting to $289,005, and forfeit ranking points.
Davis Cup Wilander was an integral member of
Sweden's highly successful
Davis Cup team throughout the 1980s. He reached his first final with Sweden in 1983, which they lost 3–2 to
Australia (despite Wilander winning both his singles rubbers in the final). In 1984, Sweden (with Wilander) won the cup, beating the
United States 4–1 in the final. Sweden retained the cup in 1985, with a 3–2 final victory over
West Germany. Wilander helped Sweden reach the final again in 1986 but declined to play in the final because he was getting married (Sweden lost 3–2 to Australia). Wilander played in his fourth final in 1987, where Sweden beat
India 5–0. Two more finals followed in 1988 and 1989, but Sweden lost both to West Germany. Wilander last played in Davis Cup in the 1995 semifinals, where he lost to Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Wilander compiled a 36–16 record in singles and a 7–2 record in doubles in the Davis Cup for Sweden. However, Wilander's most memorable Davis Cup match came in defeat. In a July 1982 quarterfinal tie against the United States on carpet in
St. Louis, Missouri, Wilander was defeated in the deciding fifth rubber by John McEnroe 9–7, 6–2, 15–17, 3–6, 8–6. At 6 hours and 32 minutes it remains the second longest singles match in Davis Cup history. ==Career statistics==