Davis Cup success
Sweden used to have an
incredibly strong team with
world-class players such
as Anders Järryd and Mats
Wilander. It was a very
demanding schedule but
we loved playing in the
Davis Cup. We made seven
finals in a row and won the
trophy in 1984, 1985, 1987
and 1994, right. It helped
tennis become even more
popular in Sweden.
It took me time to adjust
to Flushing Meadows, with
all the crowd noise and
the planes flying over.
But I finally got it together
to beat Jim Courier in 1991.
My run to the title in 1992
was extraordinarily long,
coming back in three
matches from a break
down in the fifth set before
defeating Pete Sampras in
the final, right.Patrick Kidd
THE TAILENDER
One hundred
years of the
Olympic rings
The heartening tale
of Freddie Brown
surrender” — was the only hint.
Until 1966, we did not sully the front
page with news; this was for
classified adverts. As I scanned the
page, my eye fell on a six-line advert
between a guesthouse offering places
to convalescent officers and someone
selling an emerald frock (“prewar
quality, 38 bust”).
It said that an England cricketer
and Cambridge cricket and hockey
blue, aged 34, a demobilised captain
in the Army, was seeking work as a
recreation manager. It did not give
the player’s name but this can only
have been Freddie Brown of Surrey,
Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1933,
member of the Bodyline Ashes
squad, who was captured at
Tobruk and spent three
years in a prisoner-of-
war camp. And now
here he was, begging
for work.
A sad story, yet
one that had a
heartening end.
Brown did get a job,
as a welfare officer for
a colliery in Doncaster.
While there, he was
invited to captainNorthamptonshire in 1949, after
which he was asked to lead England
in Australia at 40. He ended his Test
career with 22 caps spread over 22
years, a sign that setbacks need not
be terminal.An England XI from
all over the world
The front page of The Times 75 years
ago today barely noted the end of
the Second World War. A newsflash
in the corner — “Japan: finalBrown was born in Lima, Peru, and
went to primary school in Chile. He
is, therefore, an instant selection for
today’s fantasy XI of England Test
cricketers who were born somewhere
more exotic: Ted Dexter (Italy),
Wilf Slack (St Vincent), Colin
Cowdrey (Ooty, Tamil
Nadu), Donald Carr
(Germany), Dermot
Reeve (Hong Kong),
Geraint Jones, inset,
(Papua New
Guinea), Brown,
Derek Pringle
(Kenya), Phil
DeFreitas (Dominica),
Phil Edmonds (Zambia)
and Amjad Khan
(Denmark).Among the many obstacles to
holding an Olympic Games, having
the host country occupied by its
neighbour’s army is arguably a bigger
blow than coronavirus. This was the
position for Antwerp 21 months
before the 1920 Games, which it had
been awarded in 1912. The final
German troops withdrew from
Belgium on November 23, 1918, and
the Antwerp Olympics formally
opened a century ago yesterday,when doves of peace were released
and King Albert hoisted the new
Olympic flag. Designed by Baron de
Coubertin, the five interlocking rings,
later tattooed on many an Olympian
heel or shoulder, represented the
unity of the continents. A parody
image doing the rounds on social
media showed the flag for the
postponed Tokyo Games with the
rings spaced apart to show social
distancing.
Many doubted Antwerp could be
ready after four years of occupation,
its landscape scarred by
bombardment. It would be better not
to hold the Olympics, some argued,
than for them to be a fiasco. Lyons,
Rome and Cleveland expressed
interest in taking them on and there
was a proposal to delay the Games to- It was only in February 1920
that a final decision on the
programme was made.
Yet Baron de Coubertin, godfather
of the Olympics, saw no need to
abandon Antwerp. “If ever a gesture
were called for at such a moment,”
he said, “what could have been better
than the choice we were making?”
The show must go on, the best we
can. Tokyo has had a false start
because of Covid-19 but can still put
on a splendid Games next year. As
an American president once said:
“We choose to do these things not
because they are easy but because
they are hard, because that goal will
serve to organise and measure the
best of our energies and skills,
because that challenge is one we are
willing to accept... and one which we
intend to win.”
ATP Stefan Edberg
Sportsmanship Award
After winning this award
five times it was renamed
in my honour shortly after
my career ended in 1996.
I am very proud, as fair
play has always meant a
lot to me and is something
I feel is important in today’s
world. The award is voted
on by the players and
Roger Federer has won
it 13 times since.20 1GS Saturday August 15 2020 | the times
ME AND MY MEDALS
Olympic medals
I won the demonstration
event for under-
players at Los Angeles
1984, above, which was
only the second time
that tennis featured at a
Games since 1924. I got
a gold medal, just like
in other sports. When
tennis returned at Seoul
1988, I won bronze in
both the singles and
men’s doubles.Staff, from the early
days of graphite frames,
and I have never played
another point with it. It
was very special to win
by beating Boris Becker.
We played in three
consecutive finals. I lost
in 1989 but came back
from a break down in
the fifth set a year later.This is the shirt and
racket I used to win my
first Wimbledon title in- I don’t think I
could wear this Adidas
top at the All England
Club now, as today’s all-
white dress-code rules
are much stricter. The
racket is a Wilson Pro
Stefan Edberg, 54, won six grand-slam
singles titles and became world No 1
with his serve-and-volley game
Australian Open
I won the Australian
Open in the last two
years it was played
on grass at Kooyong
before moving to hard
courts at Melbourne
Park. Winning my first
grand-slam title at 19
in 1985 against Mats
Wilander was a big
breakthrough. I was
inspired by Boris
Becker’s Wimbledon
victory that year at the
age of 17. In 1987 I beat
Pat Cash to defend my
title (the tournament
was not played in 1986
after moving from
November to January).