Stefan Simonsson
Country (sports)Sweden Sweden
ResidenceSäffle, Sweden
Born (1960-01-05) 5 January 1960
Hyltebruk, Sweden
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$278 086
Singles
Career record100–124
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 48 (23 May 1983)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1984)
French Open1R (1980, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Wimbledon3R (1982)
US Open2R (1982, 1984)
Doubles
Career record81–108
Career titles2
Highest ranking88 (2 Jan 1984)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (1984)
French Open3R (1983)
Wimbledon2R (1983, 1984)
US Open3R (1983)

Per Stefan Mikael Simonsson (born 5 January 1960, in Hyltebruk) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing singles. During his career, he won 2 doubles titles. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 49 in 1983 and a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 88 in 1984. He is a brother of fellow tennis player Hans Simonsson.[1] After his career, he coached two top 10 players on the ATP ranking, Magnus Gustafsson[2] and Magnus Larsson.[3]

Career

1976–1978: Junior career

Simonsson won the Swedish Junior Indoor champion in 1976 as a 16 year old and in 1977 and 1978 the Swedish Junior Outdoor Champion.[4] He played in his first Junior Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in 1977 and made his debut in a senior tournament at the Swedish Open.[5][6]

Junior Slam results – Singles

  • French Open: SF (1978)
  • Wimbledon: QF (1978)
  • US Open: F (1978)

1979–1981

In 1979, Simonsson reached the quarterfinals at the challenger event in Biarritz and he reached the same stage in Brussels and Taipei on the Grand Prix circuit. His best result in 1979 was making the semifinals in Tel Aviv. In doubles and with partner Per Hjertquist, he reached the semifinals in Brussels.[4] Simonsson also made his Davis Cup debut for Sweden during July 1979 in the Europe Zone B, semifinals against Romania.[7]

Simonsson started the 1980 season by competing on the challenger circuit, and in May, he reached the final at the Galatina Challenger. On the Grand Prix tour, he made the quarterfinals at Florence and the semifinals in Munich. In doubles, he reached two semifinals, with Hjertquist at Bordeaux and with his brother, Hans in Madrid.[4] Simonsson represented Sweden during the 1980 Davis Cup, playing in both the singles and doubles.[7]

In August 1981, Simonsson won his first titles on the challenger circuit when he captured both titles at the Le Touquet Challenger. In the singles, he defeated Georges Goven in the final and in the doubles, he teamed with compatriot Anders Järryd to win the title. Earlier in the year, he played in the singles final at the Torino challenger and with Järryd in the doubles final at the Royan challenger.[4]

1982–1983

During May 1982, Simonsson made his first final on the Grand Prix tennis circuit at the tournament in Florence, where he lost in three sets to the world number 9 Vitas Gerulaitis. His other notable achievements of 1982 were two quarterfinals in Guarujá and in Toulouse.[8] In February 1983, Simonsson reached the semifinals in Caracas and in the same month, he reached the quarterfinals at the Cairo Challenger. During the first three weeks of May, he made three semifinals, first at the Parioli Challenger, thereafter at Florence and at the Italian Open in Rome. After his performance during May, he broke into the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time. Simonsson played in two quarter-finals in 1983 at Båstad and Bordeaux.[4]

At the Bordeaux Open he was successful in the doubles and won his first Grand Prix title with fellow Swede Magnus Tideman. In November and alongside Stanislav Birner, he played in his second doubles final at Ferrara, and the following week, he and Jan Gunnarsson reached the semifinals in Toulouse.[8]

1984–1986

The 1984 season was less successful, with only one quarterfinal at Florence during May. In doubles, he made three semifinals: in Metz and Cologne, with Hjertquist and in Palermo with Ronnie Båthman.[4]

In July 1985, Simonsson teamed with his brother and reached the semifinals at Båstad, and they won the doubles title in Hilversum, his second Grand Prix doubles title. Simonsson had one doubles semifinal at Florence with Mike De Palmer. In singles, he made one quarterfinal at Båstad.[4] In 1986, Simonsson reached one quarterfinal on the Challenger Tour at Marrakesh, and he played his last singles match at Kitzbühel, losing in the first round.

Grand Prix career finals

Singles: 1 (1 loss)

Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 1982 Florence, Italy Clay United States Vitas Gerulaitis 6–4, 3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 3 (2 wins, 1 loss)

Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 1983 Bordeaux, France Clay Sweden Magnus Tideman Argentina Francisco Yunis
Argentina Juan Carlos Yunis
6–4, 6–2
Loss 1–1 1983 Ferrara, Italy Carpet Czechoslovakia Stanislav Birner South Africa Bernard Mitton
United States Butch Walts
6–7, 6–0, 3–6
Win 2–1 1985 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Sweden Hans Simonsson Australia Carl Limberger
Australia Mark Woodforde
6–3, 6–4

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1978 US Open Hard Sweden Per Hjertquist 6–7, 6–1, 6–7

Challenger titles

Singles: (1)

No.    Date    Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. Aug 1981 Le Touquet, France Clay France Georges Goven 6–2, 6–1, 7–5

Doubles: (1)

No.    Date    Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
1. Aug 1981 Le Touquet, France Clay Sweden Anders Järryd Czechoslovakia Miroslav Lacek
Czechoslovakia Libor Pimek
7–5, 7–5

See also

References

  1. "Stefan Simonsson | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  2. "Magnus Gustafsson | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  3. "Magnus Larsson | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Stefan Simonsson | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  5. "Stefan Simonsson". www.itftennis.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  6. "Bastad | Results". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  7. 1 2 "Stefan Simonsson". Davis Cup.
  8. 1 2 "Stefan Simonsson | Rankings History". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
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