Wimbledon 97: Now Edberg has time to visit Harrods

One familiar face who will be missing from Wimbledon this year, and not because of injury, is Stefan Edberg.

Edberg was still only 30 when he bowed out of big-time tennis following the Davis Cup final against France, which ended on 1 December last year.

The Swede, who has made his home in London, won Wimbledon in 1988 and 1990, was the world No 1 for 72 weeks in the early 1990s and played in a record 54 successive Grand Slam tournaments, ending his great run at the 1996 US Open, where one of his victims was Tim Henman.

Edberg's behaviour on court was impeccable in an age of rising tempers, but his modesty was even more pronounced. When he won Wimbledon for the first time, he was worried he would no longer be able to shop in Harrods because he may have been recognised.