Mikael Pernfors
Before turning professional, Mikael played tennis for the University of Georgia in the United States and became the first player since Dennis Ralston two decades earlier to win back-to-back NCAA singles titles in 1984 and 1985. In 1986, just a year after turning professional, Mikael reached his first and only Grand Slam singles final at the French Open. He lost in straight sets to World Number One Ivan Llendl.
Mikael became particularly famous for a match that he led by two sets to love and 4-1 in the third at Wimbledon against Jimmy Connors. The American came all the way back to win in startling fashion. Typically, Mikael is philosophical about the experience and now talks about the great night out he had after that match.
It wasn’t until 1988 that Pernfors won his first top-level singles title at Los Angeles, California, defeating Andre Agassi in the final. His second came just a month later in Scottsdale, Arizona. In the fourth round of the Australian Open in 1990, Pernfors faced John McEnroe during an infamous match in which McEnroe became the first player to be disqualified under a new Code of Conduct that had recently been introduced in tennis. Pernfors won the match by default after McEnroe received three code violations.
Injuries limited Pernfors' performances on the tour in the first few years of the 1990's, but he made a comeback in 1993 to win the most significant title of his career at the Tennis Masters Series event in Canada. He defeated Todd Martin in the final. The effort earned him the ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year award.
