By Mike McIntyre
Tennis is about to lose one of its true good-guys with the retirement of Swedish tennis player Jonas Bjorkman. The 36 year old Bjorkman is calling it a career at the end of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, after 18 seasons on tour. One of the few accomplished singles and doubles players of his time, Bjorkman’s career as a tennis professional was truly special. His singles career includes 6 singles titles and a career high ranking of 4 in the world in 1997. It was in doubles however, where Bjorkman enjoyed much of his success with 54 doubles titles, including 9 Grand Slams with a variety of partners, and a career high ranking of number 1 in the world in 2001. Bjorkman also achieved victory in the Davis Cup for Sweden in 1994, 1997, and 1998.
I had the fortunate experience of speaking with Jonas Bjorkman following a qualifying match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto this past summer. We talked about some of the memorable experiences in his lengthy career and his plans for retirement. I was impressed by his candor, his willingness to open up and answer all of my questions in great depth, and his refreshing sense of humor that is well known on tour. He joked about how his retirement was the result of constant badgering from the other guys on tour about when he was going to call it a career.
One of the surprises about Bjorkman’s retirement announcement (made shortly before Wimbledon), was that it came while he was still playing top level tennis. While his game no longer threatened on the singles tour, he was still apart of a top-five doubles tandem with Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe. For Bjorkman however, it became clear that other priorities were becoming his focus.
“I think the travelling is getting a little tougher. I’ve got two kids back home and a great wife, and you’re sort of looking to spend more time and more quality time with them.”
In terms of knowing when to call it a career, he explained, “Obviously I probably could continue a little bit, because I’m still playing well. But I think everything has its time and I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve achieved and what I’ve done. Then during the clay court [season] it just became so obvious that I’m done after this year. So I’m looking forward to it actually, I’m very happy about it and it’s gonna be great fun.”
Just what does a tennis professional do when they retire? For Bjorkman it seems he is in no rush to decide what his future will hold. Aside from increased time with the family, he mentioned that he would likely spend more time as chief editor of a Swedish tennis magazine he has been involved with, and increase his involvement with the tennis tournament in Bastad in his home country.
When asked if he might join the coaching ranks, Bjorkman replied, “I’m not sure. Because then you’ve got to do the travelling. It might be fun to do later on but right now it’s not an option. I feel I might do some coaching back in Sweden helping kids and doing some more things like that with the Federation.” He also admitted he’ll likely be able to catch a few more ice hockey games with his kids, which is a sport he is passionate about watching.
Reflecting on the most memorable accomplishments on both the singles and doubles tours, Bjorkman reveals his patriotic side. “Probably winning Davis Cup, because as a Swede it has always been a dream to be part of and represent your country and play Davis Cup. So to win it as well three times is something that I will be very proud of. Singles wise, I will probably say too to win the Stockholm open, to win back home, definitely a highlight.”
Wimbledon also holds a special place for Bjorkman and he mentioned that his three doubles titles there with Todd Woodbridge will always be something he looks back on fondly. There was one other Wimbledon moment that stood out, and although this one did not include a trophy I could tell that he cherished it just as much.
“I didn’t win anything, but I made the semis in Wimby two years ago when I was 34, and I always believed that I had a good shot on doing really well in Wimby and I never did. And maybe I was…hoping too much and couldn’t handle my own pressure, and at that time I didn’t really believe it was going to happen. That was a nice surprise. I think I surprised everyone and myself. But also at the time I could enjoy so much more around it. Because you are much more relaxed when you are older than when you’re younger. So it was two really special weeks.”
As he currently stands 1-1 in the round robin play of this week’s Masters Cup with partner Kevin Ullyett, Bjorkman will no doubt be hoping to head into retirement with one last title. Regardless of the outcome, he certainly has enough trophies to fill up the mantle at home. Although with his positive outlook towards retirement, I doubt he’ll spend much time gazing at them.