Jonas Bjorkman: Swedish nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion who achieved a Career Grand Slam

Swedish tennis from Bjorn Borg onwards maintained a conveyor belt of Grand Slam champions until the midpoint of the 2000s. Jonas Bjorkman broke through in the 1990s before winning seven of his nine Grand Slam doubles titles in the noughties.

Bjorkman was born in a small locality in Sweden called Alvesta on March 23rd, 1972. His father Lars was a tennis coach and a local mailman. Bjorkman junior began playing aged six years old.

At 18, Bjorkman emerged victorious at the Swedish Junior Championship. He then turned professional in 1991.

The Swede played a brand of serve and volley tennis that was very much still in vogue during the nineties. The first doubles final of his career was made in 1992, partnering Aussie Jon Ireland, they were beaten in the Prague Open final.

Bjorkman, playing with two different partners, lost both of his doubles finals in the 1993 season. It was the season where he entered a main draw for the first time at a Grand Slam singles event and reached the US Open doubles last eight in tandem with Pat Rafter.

It was Bjorkman’s 1994 campaign that saw the Alvesta native enter the winner's enclosure. Playing with Australian Neil Borwick, the duo were triumphant at the hard court tournament held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. This win was quickly followed by a trophy lift in Rotterdam playing with Britain's Jeremy Bates.

Later in the year, Bjorkman established a partnership with compatriot Jan Apell. They quickly hit their stride and progressed to the French Open final, a contest in which they were beaten by Byron Black and Jonathan Stark. The pairing would hoover up five titles after this loss, including a home success at the Swedish Open in Bastad and victory at the Queen's Club Championships. Topping the quintet of trophies was the Masters Cup, in Indonesia, where they defeated ‘The Woodies in a five-set final.

Bjorkman reached his first final of an ATP singles event in 1995, losing to Michael Chang in the a final in Hong Kong.

The Swede amassed a trio of doubles titles in 1995, playing with three separate partners. He failed to progress beyond round three in any singles or doubles major.

Kulti cemented a relationship with Bjorkman in 1996 which yielded a pair of titles. Two Grand Slam doubles quarter-finals also featured on Bjorkman’s record this year.

A maiden singles time came Bjorkman’s way in 1997, after he bested Dane Kenneth Carlsen to lift the Auckland Open.

The US hardcourt summer proved fruitful for Bjorkman. He claimed a second singles title at the US Open preparatory event in Indianapolis. This was followed weeks later by a run to the final four of the New York major. A run halted by Britain's Greg Rusedski. A third singles title on home turf in Stockholm provided a successful conclusion to Bjorkman’s breakout year in singles.

Playing with Kulti, doubles success came in Atlanta. The Swedish duo advanced to their first major final together in New York, but were beaten in straight sets by Daniel Vacek and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Bjorkman’s relationship with Kulti wasn't renewed in 1998 and the split quickly paid dividends for Bjorkman. He teamed up with Dutchman Jacco. Eltingh - already a doubles great - to lift the Australian Open title and establish Bjorkman as a major champion. The win carried extra validity as they edged a five-set thriller with the world's best pair, the Woodies, on their patch.

Bjorkman won just one other doubles title that year, partnering Aussie Pat Rafter to win at Indian Wells. The Swede added a fourth singles title, too, when lifting the Nottingham Open title on grass.

The 1999 Australian Open witnessed Bjorkman and Rafter unite to claim the doubles crown in Melbourne. Like the previous year, with Eltingh, Bjorkman required five sets to prevail. The beaten final opponents were Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.

The Rafter/Bjorkman combination added further titles in the last year of the millennium at Halle and the 1000 event in Montreal.

Bjorkman would then embellish his season with two additional tournament wins alongside Zimbabwean Byron Black. One of these being the Cincinnati Masters.

After a lean 2000, featuring a solitary doubles title, Bjorkman began the 2001 season playing with the great Todd Woodbridge. The Australian was looking for a new partner after Mark Woodforde retired to end their legendary partnership.

In their first major together, glory materialised at the Australian Open, giving Bjorkman a third win at Melbourne. They added three further titles this term, including Masters crowns in Monte Carlo and Hamburg.

Four titles were also accumulated in a 2002 season highlighted by a Wimbledon triumph. A four-set victory over Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor gave Bjorkman a first Grand Slam victory outside Australia.

Bjorkman managed to accrue a second Nottingham Open singles title in 2002. He also made the last eight of the Australian Open.

A defence of their Wimbledon title followed victory in the warm-up tournament in Halle. The 2003 triumph at SW19 saw Bjorkman and Woodbridge beat Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi in four sets.

The Aussie/Swede duo made it consecutive majors when emerging triumphant at the US Open. They bounced back from losing the opening set to defeat Bob and Mike Bryan.

Going into the Wimbledon Championships of 2004, Bjorkman and Woodbridge had lifted just one title, at the Sydney International in January.

Any fears over their form were allayed as they secured a four-set victory over Austrian Julian Knowle and Serb Nenad Zimonjic. For Woodbridge, this win represented a record-breaking ninth Wimbledon doubles title.

The partnership of Woodbridge dissolved in 2005 as Woodbridge retired and Bjorkman began operating in tandem with Mirnyi.

Their partnership gathered momentum in the spring as they bagged Masters titles in Miami and Hamburg. The latter win set them up nicely for a tilt at the French Open.

A defeat of the Bryan brothers gave the fledgling combination their first major together. For Bjorkman, he was now a Career Grand Slammer. They would reach a US Open final later in the season, losing to Bryan and Bryan in straight sets.

2006 would be the most prolific of Bjorkman’s career. The stylish Swede harvested an octet of tournament wins in a year where he had a mini renaissance in singles.

Six of the eight titles were won with regular partner Mirnyi. This included a successful defence at Roland Garros. They once again got the better of familiar foes the Bryan twins. Three Masters titles and glory at the season-ending Masters Cup cemented them as the year's leading pair.

A notable success away from Mirnyi in this campaign came when Bjorkman teamed up with veteran John McEnroe, who had briefly returned to the main tour. They experienced title success on the hardcourts of San Jose. McEnroe was now close to 50.

By now, Bjorkman’s singles career was firmly in the rear view mirror of his doubles status. However, in a surprising journey, Bjorkman advanced to a second major singles semi-final at Wimbledon. He battled through a triumvirate of five set matches, one of which was against Mirnyi. Ultimately, Roger Federer, now an all-conquering force, outclassed Bjorkman.

A solitary title in Stockholm was a significant comedown for Bjorkman and Mirnyi in 2007. Their season fizzled out after losing to the Bryans in January’s Australian Open final.

Three titles were added to Bjorkman’s CV in 2008, one with Robin Soderling and the other two in alliance with Kevin Ulyett.

Apart from a brief return in 2013, Bjorkman’s full-time tennis career was brought to a close at the end of the noughties. He finished with 54 doubles titles from 97 finals, including nine Grand Slams. Bjorkman was world number one in men's doubles for 74 weeks. He lifted six singles titles and peaked in the rankings at four.

Bjorkman played a record 14 years in the Swedish Davis Cup team. His time in the squad yielded three overall victories.

The 1994 final saw Bjorkman and regular wingman Apell win a crucial doubles rubber against Kafelnikov and Andrei Olhovskiy 8-6 in the fifth to clinch the famous trophy.

He played an even greater role as they regained the Cup in 1997. Bjorkman won both of his singles rubbers (one was a dead rubber) and the doubles rubber with Kulti which gave Sweden an unassailable lead against the USA.

For the third time, Bjorkman secured the winning point in a Swedish victory. Their successful defence in 1998 was clinched when Bjorkman and Kulti defeated Davide Sanguinetti and Diego Nargiso in the doubles rubber.

Bjorkman also lost two mixed doubles Grand Slam finals: 1999 Wimbledon with Anna Kournikova and 2007 Wimbledon alongside Alicia Molik.

Bjorkman has enjoyed a pretty effective coaching career since retiring. He was briefly Andy Murray’s permanent coach in 2015, overseeing multiple Masters series wins. However, Murray opted not to renew his contract for 2016. He then worked for a year or so with Croat Marin Cilic.

Bjorkman has worked for Swedish television as an analyst and is the current Marketing Director of the Stockholm Open.

He's been married since 2000 to Petra Falk and they have a son Max and daughter Bianca together.

The Swede’s singles career wasn't consistently in the top flight but he managed to reach two major semis nine years apart to underline his occasional threat to the very best.

Bjorkman is one of the all-time greats in men's doubles, though . Nine majors is a huge tally and his partnerships with Woodbridge and Mirnyi both had seasons where they positioned themselves as the best in the world.