Edberg serves up rare reminder of elegant style

The Swedish former Wimbledon champion delights the crowd while Korda and Leconte reach Challenge semi-finals

The only thing about Stefan Edberg that was ever high-profile was his sumptuous tennis. The court was the only place where he did not blend into the background as if camouflaged. During the many years he lived in Kensington, as a Wimbledon champion and world No 1, Edberg would stroll to Queen's Club to practise between tournaments, not exactly unnoticed but never pestered.

At 36, Edberg is even more selective about where and when he plays. His preference is a "small little court" near his home in Grimslov, Sweden, where he can play for an hour-and-a-half with one of the teenagers from his tennis foundation.

Returning to London this week for an exhibition match in aid of Tim Henman's charity, Kids at Heart, Edberg enjoyed meeting old friends such as his former coach Tony Pickard, from Nottingham, and was happy to treat spectators at the Royal Albert Hall to a sample of his elegant serve-volley style.

At one point Edberg imitated several of John McEnroe's idiosyncrasies, but he did not go too far along that route. His opponent, Jonas Bjorkman, a fellow Swede, is the ATP's master mimic, just as Mansour Bahrami is the trick-cyclist of the Delta Tour of Champions (the 46-year-old Iranian leapt over the net and returned one of his own shots when playing doubles here yesterday).

Edberg drew the line, however, when McEnroe tried to recruit him to the senior tour, explaining politely that he understood why younger former players were needed, but was not inclined to be one of them. They had had the same conversation before.

"It was nice to play in this lovely arena again," Edberg said, "but coming here is too much like the old days. I'm still involved in tennis, but it's more at grassroots now." That, he added, is a big enough challenge now Swedish tennis is in decline after the astonishing era of Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, and Edberg, even though Thomas Johansson won the Australian Open this year.

"Time has changed, and it's difficult getting hold of talent," Edberg said. "Other countries now have the equipment and the hunger. Tennis in Sweden has fallen back, and other sports are bigger there now."

Petr Korda, who won the Australian Open in 1998 with Pickard giving tactical tips on the telephone, joined Edberg and the coach for a brief reunion on Thursday evening. Yesterday the Czech secured his place in the Honda Challenge semi-finals by defeating Australia's Pat Cash, 7-6, 6-3. "Petr hits the ball harder than any other player out there," Cash said.

"I never won a tournament in England," the 34-year-old Korda reminded us. "It would be great to win here at the Royal Albert Hall. You can't compare this court to any other indoor court in the world. I call it 'Little Wimbledon'. I need to enjoy myself when I play. I play tennis from the heart." Korda advanced to the Honda Challenge final last year and was defeated by Guy Forget, of France. Henri Leconte, another crowd-pleaser, joins Korda in the semi-finals. The Frenchman beat Mikael Pernfors, of Sweden, 6-3, 6-2, following on from his opening day win over John McEnroe.

HONDA CHALLENGE (Royal Albert Hall, London) Round-robin: J McEnroe (US) bt M Pernfors (Swe) 6-1 6-0; P Korda (Cz Rep) bt P Cash (Aus) 7-6 6-3; H Leconte (Fr) bt M Pernfors (Swe) 6-3 6-2. Exhibition match: S Edberg (Swe) bt J Bjorkman (Swe) 6-4 3-6 10-8.

* Britain were beaten 2-0 by Poland in the semi-finals of the European Team Championship in Montecatini, Italy, yesterday. Jonny Marray, replacing David Sherwood, who had tonsilitis, was defeated by Bartlomiej Dabrowski, 6-3, 6-4, and Alex Bogdanovic lost to Mariusz Fyrstenberg, 6-4, 6-4.