- Born
- Birth nameMats Arne Olof Wilander
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden.
From 1982 to 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one Grand Slam men's doubles title (at Wimbledon). His breakthrough came suddenly and unexpectedly (even in Sweden) when he won the 1982 French Open. This occurred more or less simultaneously with countryman Björn Borg's decision to quit tennis.
In 1988, Wilander won three of the four Grand Slam singles events and finished that year ranked World No. 1. Although he never won the singles title at Wimbledon, Wilander twice won the Australian Open when that tournament was still played on grass courts. This makes Wilander one of only six men (along with Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic) to have won Grand Slam singles titles on grass courts, hard courts, and clay courts. He, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the only men in tennis history to have won at least two Grand Slam singles titles on each of the three surfaces (2 Australian when it was played on grass, 1 Australian and 1 US on hard, and 3 French on clay).
Wilander won his fourth Grand Slam singles title at the age of 20, the youngest man in history to have achieved that feat. He also won eight Grand Prix Super Series titles (1983-88), the precursors to the current ATP World Tour Masters 1000. He won 33 singles titles and seven doubles titles during his career. He was also a driving force behind Sweden's run of seven consecutive Davis Cup finals in the 1980s.
In 2002, Wilander was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tango Papa
- SpouseSonya Mulholland(January 3, 1987 - present) (4 children)
- Best year was 1988, when he won three of the four Grand Slam titles (Australian, French, and U.S. Open) and finished the year as the #1 ranked men's player.
- Won 8 Grand Slam events in his career: seven in singles (1983, 1984, and 1988 Australian Opens, 1982, 1985, and 1988 French Opens, and 1988 U.S. Open) and one men's doubles title (1986 Wimbledon with Joakim Nystrom).
- Swedish-born men's pro tennis player who was part of a "Swedish Invasion" into men's tennis in the 1980s. Other top Swedes of that time were Stefan Edberg, Joakim Nystrom, and Anders Jarryd.
- Was scheduled to fly Pan Am flight 103 that exploded on Dec. 21, 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland, but decided not to board the plane in the last minute.
- The family live in Idaho,USA.
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