The man who helped mold and icon has died at 59.
Peter Lundgren, who reached as high as No. 25 in the world during his playing days, coached Roger Federer to a Wimbledon victory in 2003 — the Swiss icon’s first Grand Slam win.
Lundgren’s children, Lukas and Julia, confirmed his death in a Facebook post.
Men’s Singles trophy after he defeated Mark Philippoussis in the
final of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon
on July 6, 2003. AP
“Rest in peace Dad. One of the best has unfortunately left us far too soon,” Lukas wrote.
“A coach, player, friend and father. An inspiration and helping hand for many, both on and off the court. The imprint you made and the memories will always live on.”
A cause of death was not publicized, though the Swede had previously disclosed he had Type II diabetes and had his foot and lower leg amputated after breaking it last year.
Lundgren gained acclaim as a coach, guiding the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Marcelo Rios, Marat Safin and Grigor Dimitrov in addition to Federer.
Still, Federer, whom he coached from 2000-03 before their surprising split, was a special challenge.
“It wasn’t easy with him at the beginning,” Lundgren told Swiss outlet Blick in 2023. “He had a lot of temperament and showed that too often in the games. But he quickly realized that he had to change.”
Lundgren made an initial mark on the sport as part of a generation of Swedish players that included the likes of Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Joakim Nyström, Anders Järryd, Henrik Sundström, Hans Simonsson and Kent Carlsson — though he bore the moniker of being “the new Bjorn Borg” as he trained with the legend and wore his hair similarly long.
He finished his playing days at the age of 30 with a 119-136 singles mark.
Fellow Swedish tennis star Borg was among those to offer tribute to Lundgren as the news of his passing spread.
“Peter Lundgren was a wonderful person with a big heart and a lot of humour,” Borg told Sportbladet. “He was a really good friend. He was loved by all. He will be missed in the tennis world.”
Wawrinka shared his sorrow at his former coach’s passing with a slew of photos and videos on his Instagram story, adding “You will be missed,” with a broken heart and prayer hands emoji on them.
