By Scoop Malinowski
Former ATP champion Peter Lundgren passed away this month at age 59. The three time ATP singles titleist and 1988 Australian Open doubles finalist reached a career high ranking of 25 in the world in 1985 but he may be more known for coaching future no. 1 players Roger Federer, Marcelo Rios, Marat Safin and also Marcos Baghdatis, Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka.
I only had a few encounters with Lundgren but they were all positive and memorable. In 2003, while he was coaching the reigning Wimbledon champ Federer, during a 2003 US Open rain delay, I stumbled upon a table tennis match between Lundgren and Federer in the lower player lounge. It was an interesting spectacle because it was getting competitive with some friendly trash talk and bravado. As the game progressed, and the curious audience grew, it was evident Lundgren was the superior player. But at the end, the coach seemed to make a smart decision – tank the match and let the boss win, to protect his ego and confidence. It would not have been wise of Lundgren to dominate Federer in front of about two or three dozen observers, so he rolled over at the end. Federer didn’t gloat either, he knew what really happened. In fact, Federer seemed even a little embarrassed with the hollow victory. Federer lost in the fourth round that year at US Open.
Federer and Lundgren completed their collaboration at the end of 2003 after three years together. Federer would become world no. 1 in February 2004. When Fed and Lundgren joined forces in 2000, Fed was ranked 29.
Lundgren was hired by Marat Safin and directed him to the 2005 Australian Open title, which included a marathon five set semifinal win vs Federer, one of the most memorable duels in Grand Slam history.
My next encounter with Lundgren was for my Marcelo Rios book. He agreed to give an interview at US Open in 2010 and told me some fascinating insights about the Chilean who he coached to the ATP top ten.
Lundgren told me Marcelo approached him at Miami Open years after they parted ways and some unexpected words came from the infamous ATP villain’s mouth, “Marcelo said to me, I’m sorry I was like that. I thought you were a great coach.”
It may be the only time Marcelo Rios ever apologized to anyone in his illustrious, historic but controversial career.
You meet a lot of nice people in the sometimes vicious world of elite pro tennis, naturally, kind, warm, instantly likable humble people. Peter Lundgren is on the top of that list.
One of Lundgren’s Grand Slam rivals concurred: “I played him in the finals of the Australian Open finals in 1988,” said Rick Leach. “He had a typical beautiful Swedish backhand. He and Jonas Bjorkman used to impersonate Bjorn Borg all the time. Really funny stuff. He was an all around great guy and will be missed by all the tennis community.”
Marcelo Rios · Peter Lundgren · Roger Federer · Stan Wawrinka · Sweden
