In the 1980s he was on the court himself, later he started his career as a tennis coach. Now Peter Lundgren has died
As a professional tennis player he was part of Sweden’s golden generation, as a coach he led Roger Federer to his first Wimbledon victory: Peter Lundgren has died at the age of just 59. His children Lukas and Julia announced the news on Facebook on Friday. “One of the most important people has left us far too soon. He was an inspiration and a great help to many, on and off the pitch,” the post read.
Lundgren was overshadowed by his famous compatriots such as Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg in the 1980s, but still reached 25th place in the world rankings in 1987 and won three ATP tournaments. Lundgren lost to Boris Becker in the finals of Stockholm 1988 and Indianapolis 1990. In doubles, he made it to the final of the Australian Open with Jeremy Bates in 1988.
Lundgren became famous as a sometimes eccentric coach. He coached the Chilean Marcelo Rios to world-class status and the young Federer to his first major successes from 2000 to 2003, including his triumph at Wimbledon in the last year of their collaboration. Marat Safin won the Australian Open under Lundgren in 2005, other protégés of the Swede were Marcos Baghdatis, Grigor Dimitrov, Stan Wawrinka and Daniela Hantuchova. Lundgren recently struggled with major health problems and had a foot amputated in 2023 due to an infection
