Morning Man Encore: Stefan Edberg!

Originally posted July 30, 2009

Stefan Edberg is one of my all-time crushes. Top five, lifetime. This is famous people crushes I’m talking about!

The gorgeous Swedish tennis star is in town this week to play some exhibition matches at the LA Tennis Open at UCLA and lost a close match on Wednesday evening to old rival Jim Courier who he beat in the final of the US Open in 1991.

Stefan, now 43, was the number one tennis player in the world on and off in the early 1990s and has been inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame. In all, he won two US Opens, two Wimbledons and two Australian Opens.

He would have been one of the few players to complete a career grand slam had he been able to defeat Michael Chang in the 1989 French Open final. He lost in five close sets to the then 17 year old. Edberg (pictured, left, joking around Wednesday night at UCLA) will face Chang in another exhibition match tonight.

Edberg not only had then-rising stars like Chang, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras to contend with, but he also competed regularly on the tour against such all-time greats and former number ones as Becker, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and Mats Wilander.

Edberg played on four championship Davis Cup teams in his career, won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games when tennis was an exhibition sport, and also won three grand slam titles in doubles. He and McEnroe are the only two male players in the history of the tour to have been ranked number one in both singles and doubles in their career.

His serve and volley game was so exciting to watch and so were his incredible legs! From the looks of the photos taken this week, he’s still in terrific shape and very crush-worthy.

But most of all, Edberg was the consummate gentleman – so much so that the Association of Tennis Professionals tour sportsmanship award is named after him.

Total class act.

The video below is a nice compilation of Edberg’s career to Tina Turner’s Simply the Best. Enjoy the music, enjoy the beautiful tennis, and enjoy Stefan’s glorious short shorts!