Birger Andersson
Full name: Nils Birger Lennart Andersson
Nickname: Bragd-Birger
Nickname: Bragd-Birger
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| Bio | Birger Andersson started to call "Bragd-Birger" by Swedish people when he managed to beat twice in the fifth decisive singles match much higher rated players and thus take Sweden through to the semis and finals of the Davis Cup. This paved the way for Sweden's first final victory in the Davis Cup in 1975. The team also participated Bjorn Borg, Ove Bengtsson and Rolf Norberg. Captain Lennart Berg Elin. Andersson is best remembered for his performances for Sweden when they won the 1975 Davis Cup, the country's first title. Still a rookie, he had played professionally for only a few months before he got the Davis Cup call up. Up until the final he occupied the No. 2 singles position, behind Björn Borg. Although he didn't play in the final, he was responsible for Sweden making it that far, as he twice won the fifth and deciding match of a knockout tie. For his feats during the tournament he was given the nickname "Bragd-Birger". In the Europe Zone quarter-final against West Germany, he defeated Karl Meiler in straight sets, to win the tie for Sweden. Soon after he made the third round of the 1975 Wimbledon Championships, with wins over Tito Vázquez and Humphrey Hose. He was again called upon for Sweden in the fifth rubber of the Europe Zone final against Spain in Barcelona and managed to beat José Higueras in four sets. For the first time in Sweden's campaign they had home advantage when they met Chile in the Inter-Zonal semi-finals in Båstad. With Sweden leading 2–1, Andersson secured his side's place in the final by beating Patricio Cornejo in the fourth rubber. Ove Bengtson was preferred over clay court specialist Andersson for the final against Czechoslovakia as the tie was played on indoor carpet. In response to being asked if he felt let down losing his spot in the team for the final he responded that he believed Swedish captain Lennart Bergelin "picked the right guy". Andersson continued playing professional tournaments for the remainder of the decade and had his best Grand Prix performance in one of his last appearances, the semi-finals of the 1980 Swedish Open in Båstad. Since retiring he has worked as a gymnastics director and now coaches at the Linköping tennis academy and he is also a trained physical education director. |
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