Mikael Pernfors

Mikael Pernfors

Country (sports)	Sweden
Residence	Vero Beach, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1963-07-16) 16 July 1963 Malmö, Sweden
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	1985
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
College	Georgia
Prize money	$1,363,793
Singles
Career record	140–114
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 10 (22 September 1986)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (1990)
French Open	F (1986)
Wimbledon	4R (1986, 1987)
US Open	4R (1989)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals	SF (1989)
Doubles
Career record	41–47
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 32 (11 July 1988)

Mikael Pernfors (born 16 July 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1986, and won the 1993 Canadian Open in Montreal.

Career

Pernfors played a topspin-heavy baseline game with a double-handed backhand, like his countrymen Björn Borg and Mats Wilander, but he lacked their consistency and relied on a crowd-pleasing game full of variety, liberally employing the drop shot and the topspin lob.

Before turning professional, Pernfors played tennis for two years at Seminole Community College, then the University of Georgia in the United States and became the first player since Dennis Ralston two decades earlier to win back-to-back NCAA singles titles in 1984 and 1985.

In 1986 Pernfors reached his first (and only) Grand Slam singles final at the French Open. He defeated Olivier Delaître, Stefan Edberg, Robert Seguso, Martín Jaite, Boris Becker in the quarterfinals and Henri Leconte in the semifinals. In the final, he lost in straight sets to then world No. 1, Ivan Lendl, 3–6, 2–6, 4–6.

Pernfors played for Sweden in the final of the Davis Cup in 1986. He won one singles rubber against Paul McNamee in straight sets and lost the other to Pat Cash in five sets – after winning the first two – as Australia beat Sweden 3–2. The following year at Wimbledon he again lost a two-set lead, falling to Jimmy Connors 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 4–6, 2–6 after having led 6–1, 6–1, 4–1, and afterwards 3–0 in the fourth set. [1]

In 1988, Pernfors won his first top-level singles title at Los Angeles, defeating Andre Agassi in the final. His second came just a month later in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In the fourth round of the Australian Open in 1990, Pernfors faced John McEnroe during a match in which McEnroe became the first player to be disqualified under a new Code of Conduct that had recently been introduced in tennis. McEnroe was apparently unaware that under the new rules three code violations would result in disqualification (instead of the previous four), and Pernfors won the match by default after McEnroe attempted to intimidate a lineswoman, smashed a racket, and then verbally abused the umpire.

Injuries limited Pernfors' performances on the tour in the first few years of the 1990s. He came back strongly in 1993 to win the most significant title of his career at the Canadian Open (part of the Tennis Masters Series), where he defeated Todd Martin in the final, 2–6, 6–2, 7–5. Pernfors became the oldest player to lift a Masters title when the then 30-year-old Swede lifted the third and final singles trophy of his career. He also was the lowest ranked player to triumph at a Masters, moving 58 positions up to world No. 37 after the tournament. A few weeks later, he pushed Wilander to five sets in the second round of the US Open, falling 6–7, 6–3, 6–1, 6–7, 4–6.

Pernfors was the recipient of the ATP Tour's Most Improved Player award in 1986, and its Comeback Player of the Year award in 1993.

Pernfors retired from the professional tour in 1996 after a career in which he won three top-level singles and one doubles title. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 10 in 1986. His career prize-money earnings totalled $1,363,793. In addition to his victories over Becker, Agassi, McEnroe and Martin, Pernfors holds victories over Wilander, Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Thomas Muster, Sergi Bruguera and Michael Stich.

Since retiring from the tour, Pernfors has been a regular competitor in seniors events.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1986	French Open	Clay	Ivan Lendl	3–6, 2–6, 4–6

Masters Series finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1993	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Todd Martin	2–6, 6–2, 7–5

Career finals

Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend

Grand Slam (0–1)

Masters Cup (0–0)

ATP Masters Series (1–0)

ATP Tour (2–1)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	May 1986	French Open, Paris	Clay	Ivan Lendl	3–6, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	Feb 1988	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Andre Agassi	4–6, 4–6, 5–7
Win	1.	Sep 1988	Los Angeles, USA	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–2, 7–5
Win	2.	Oct 1988	Scottsdale, USA	Hard	Glenn Layendecker	6–2, 6–4
Win	3.	Jul 1993	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Todd Martin	2–6, 6–2, 7–5

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Tour (1–2)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Jul 1987	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Magnus Tideman	Rick Leach Tim Pawsat	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	Feb 1988	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Peter Lundgren	Kevin Curren David Pate	2–6, 2–6
Win	1.	May 1989	Charleston, USA	Clay	Tobias Svantesson	Agustín Moreno Jaime Yzaga	6–4, 4–6, 7–5

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

R#

RR

Q#

A

NH

(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	NH	A	A	3R	QF	A	A	A	1R	0 / 3	6–3
French Open	A	A	F	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	1R	0 / 5	6–5
Wimbledon	A	A	4R	4R	A	2R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	7–3
US Open	1R	1R	2R	1R	3R	4R	1R	1R	1R	2R	A	0 / 10	7–10
Win–loss	0–1	0–1	10–3	3–3	2–2	6–4	4–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	0 / 21	26–21
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells	Tournaments were not Masters Series events before 1990						A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Miami							1R	A	A	3R	A	0 / 2	2–2
Monte Carlo							A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Rome							A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Hamburg							A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Canada							A	A	A	W	A	1 / 1	6–0
Cincinnati							A	2R	A	1R	A	0 / 2	1–2
Stockholm							A	A	A	2R	A	0 / 1	1–1
Paris							A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Win–loss							0–1	1–1	0–0	9–3	0–0	1 / 6	10–5
Year-end ranking	434	165	12	33	19	48	175	240	234	29	940

External links

• Mikael Pernfors at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Mikael Pernfors at the International Tennis Federation
• Mikael Pernfors at the Davis Cup

Awards
Preceded by Boris Becker	ATP Most Improved Player 1986	Succeeded by Peter Lundgren