Henrik Sundström

Infobox Tennis player
playername= Henrik Sundström


country= SWE
residence= Monte Carlo, Monaco
datebirth= birth date and age|1964|2|29
placebirth= Lund, Sweden
height= 6 ft 2 in (187 cm)
weight= 160 lb (72 kg)
turnedpro= 1981
plays= Right
careerprizemoney= $819,393
singlesrecord= 154–109
singlestitles= 5
highestsinglesranking= No. 6
(October 8, 1984)
AustralianOpenresult= 2RDD (1982, '83, '85)
FrenchOpenresult= QF (1984)
Wimbledonresult= 3RD (1983)
USOpenresult= 4RD (1984)
doublesrecord= 25–37
doublestitles= 0
highestdoublesranking= No. 99
(October 29, 1984)

Henrik Sundström (born February 29, 1964 in Lund, Sweden) is a former professional male tennis player from Sweden. He is nicknamed Henke. He was part of the golden generation of Swedish tennis in the 1980s that come through the ranks after the great success of Björn Borg. Sundström was at his best on clay and achieved all his best results on this surface, with his solid and heavy topspin groundstrokes from the baseline.

Tennis career

Sundström turned professional in 1981 and in 1982 he went on to make his first final at the Swedish Open in Båstad losing to countryman and reigning French Open champion Mats Wilander 6–4 6–4.

In 1983 Sundström won his first ATP title in Nice over Manuel Orantes 7–5 4–6 6–3 and made the final of Madrid, losing to Yannick Noah who later went onto win the French Open that year. Sundström also made his Davis Cup debut against New Zealand in the quarter finals played at Eastbourne on grass. He lost both of his matches, but Sweden still managed to win the tie and make the final that year against Australia.

1984 was the best year of Sundström's career as he compiled a record of 54–21. In 3 weeks between April 2 and April 22 he won 14 out 15 matches, winning titles in Bari over Pedro Rebolledo without losing a set, and proceeded to make the final in Nice also without losing a set before losing to Andres Gomez. He then won the biggest tournament of his career, the Monte Carlo Open, against Mats Wilander 6–3 7–5 6–2. After victory Sundström made the final of the German Open in Hamburg defeating Mats Wilander again on the way before losing a tough 5 set match against Juan Aguilera 6–4 2–6 2–6 6–4 6–4. In light of his excellent performances he was considered a strong contender for the French Open, but he was defeated in the quarter finals by Jimmy Connors.

After the disappointment of his performance at the French Open Sundström bounced back and won the title in Båstad and made the final of Geneva losing to Aaron Krickstein.

Davis Cup was an area where Sundström stood out. He came into the Swedish team in the quarter finals and composed a 6–0 record in singles for the year. All of these matches were on clay; his scalps included the reigning French Open champion Ivan Lendl who was still playing for Czechoslovakia at the time. Sundström turned around a 2-sets-to-love deficit and won the match 4–6 3–6 6–3 6–1 6–1, which gave the Swedes the edge and they made the final against the U.S.. The US team was hyped up to be a dream team; it included John McEnroe who had lost only 2 matches for the season, his arch rival Jimmy Connors, and Peter Fleming, John McEnroe's long term doubles partner. McEnroe and Fleming were among the most successful doubles combinations in history.

After Mats Wilander defeated Jimmy Connors in the first match, the expectation was that John McEnroe would crush Sundström and the US would go on to take the doubles. This was arguably Sundström's finest match of his career as he defeated John McEnroe in straight sets 13–11 6–4 6–3 to inflict his third defeat for 1984. This match turned the Davis Cup final in the Swedes' favour and they won the Davis Cup by taking the doubles as well. Sundström also won his second singles match against Jimmy Arias, but this was of academic interest as Sweden had already won the Davis Cup by taking an unassailable 3–0 lead.

Sundström never reached the same heights again after 1984. He played Davis Cup only once more after that as there was a large pool of players to choose from for the team and he only managed to win one more title in 1986 at Athens defeating Francisco Maciel. Sundström had injury problems with his knee and shoulder and retired in 1989 after playing only 21 matches in 3 years.

Sundström now lives in Monaco where he works. He has two children.

Career finals

Singles

Wins (5)

{| class="wikitable"
- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
No.
Date
Tournament
Surface
Opponent
Score
-
1.
27 March, 1983
Nice, France
Clay
flagicon|ESP Manuel Orantes
7–5, 4–6, 6–3
-
2.
8 April, 1984
Bari, Italy
Clay
flagicon|CHI Pedro Robelledo
7–5, 6–4
-
3.
22 April, 1984
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Clay
flagicon|SWE Mats Wilander
6–3, 7–5, 6–2
-
4.
22 July, 1984
Båstad, Sweden
Clay
flagicon|SWE Anders Järryd
3–6, 7–5, 6–3
-
5.
22 June, 1986
Athens, Greece
Clay
flagicon|MEX Francisco Maciel
6–0, 7–5

External links

*ATP|id=S097