Henrik Sundström

Henrik Sundström

Henrik Sundström (July 1982)
Country (sports)	Sweden
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born	(1964-02-29) 29 February 1964 (age 59) Lund, Sweden
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1981
Retired	1989
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$819,393
Singles
Career record	154–109
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 6 (8 October 1984)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (1982, 1983, 1985)
French Open	QF (1984)
Wimbledon	3R (1983)
US Open	4R (1984)
Doubles
Career record	25–37
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 99 (29 October 1984)

Henrik Sundström (born 29 February 1964) is a former professional male tennis player from Sweden.^[1] He is nicknamed Henke. Sundström was at his best on clay and achieved his strongest results on this surface, with his solid and heavy topspin groundstrokes from the baseline. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 6.

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.

In 1983 Sundström won his first ATP title in Nice over Manuel Orantes and made the final of Madrid, losing to Yannick Noah who later went on to 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 won 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 2 April and 22 April 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 Andrés Gómez. He then won the biggest tournament of his career, the Monte Carlo Open, against Mats Wilander. After victory Sundström made the final of the German Open in Hamburg defeating Mats Wilander again on the way before losing a 5 set match against Juan Aguilera. He then made it to the quarterfinals at the French Open by defeating Álvaro Fillol, Joakim Nyström, Hans Gildemeister and Francesco Cancellotti, before being defeated by Jimmy Connors.

After the French Open Sundström won the title in Båstad and made the final of Geneva, losing to Aaron Krickstein.

Sundström competed for the victorious Swedish Davis Cup team that year. He came into the Swedish team in the quarterfinals and composed a 6–0 record in singles for the year. All of these matches were on clay; his opponents 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 and 0–3 (0–40) deficit in the third set, and won the match in 5, which gave the Swedes the edge and they made the final against the United States. The US team included John McEnroe who had lost only 2 matches for the season, Jimmy Connors, and Peter Fleming, John McEnroe's long-term doubles partner.

Mats Wilander defeated Jimmy Connors in the first match, and Sundström faced McEnroe in the second match. 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' favor and they won the Davis Cup by taking the doubles as well. Sundström also won his second singles match against Jimmy Arias, but Sweden had already clinched 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 and he only won one more title in 1986 at Athens, defeating Francisco Maciel. Sundström had injury problems with his back 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: 13 (5 wins, 8 losses)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 1982	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Mats Wilander	4–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	Mar 1983	Nice, France	Clay	Manuel Orantes	7–5, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	1–2	Apr 1983	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Yannick Noah	6–3, 0–6, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Sep 1983	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Win	2–3	Apr 1984	Bari, Italy	Clay	Pedro Rebolledo	7–5, 6–4
Loss	2–4	Apr 1984	Nice, France	Clay	Andrés Gómez	1–6, 4–6
Win	3–4	Apr 1984	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–3, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	3–5	May 1984	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Juan Aguilera	4–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6
Win	4–5	Jul 1984	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Anders Järryd	3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Loss	4–6	Sep 1984	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Aaron Krickstein	7–6, 1–6, 4–6
Loss	4–7	Apr 1985	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Miloslav Mečíř	4–6, 1–6, 4–6
Loss	4–8	Mar 1986	Florence, Italy	Clay	Andrés Gómez	3–6, 4–6
Win	5–8	Jun 1986	Athens, Greece	Clay	Francisco Maciel	6–0, 7–5

References

External links

• Henrik Sundström at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Henrik Sundström at the International Tennis Federation
• Henrik Sundström at the Davis Cup

This page was last edited on 29 December 2023, at 19:20