What on earth is he doing in French Open 4th round?!!! Seriously though, well done to the veteran Swede on making it so far through the draw...

It's like madness Mr I! roflmao

seriusly though, an unbelievable effort for a 34 year old and on a surface which he hates to tell the truth :lol:

His stamina is amazing, so many tight matches this week :o

He really does have the stomach for a fight, doesn't he?

Unlike Nalby who just has a stomach :lol:

(apologies to nalby fans, couldn't resist that one!)

Petalp, you wicked creature roflmao

Nalby is a tad large though, as in like fat roflmao

Ooh dl, a bit naughty too! roflmao

But much mirth about that girth!! :lol:

great effort for him to make it this far...experience has clearly made the difference...but when put the test against the big boys, the swede will falter. what kind of defense did he put up against federer last year in the Wimbledon semis, not much.

Its funny, after the FO final last year I created a thread in KOC especially for praising the viking about doing well for an end of career but more so for his enthusiam for the game and his great spirit. Since then he reached the final in Nottinghill, the semi at Wimbledon and now a chance for a 1/4 Final. ...so again Hail the Vicking....

Here was my original post:

Hail to Bjorkman the great viking.
« Thread Started on Jun 21, 2006, 12:02pm »

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Not many of us pay tribute to this great player who once was ranked number 4 in the world. He is still the best double player in the world and just won the FO double. He also carried the old Mc to a recent double tournment victory and while most were praising Mac, I believe most of the achievement was due to the younger player. Yet when I say younger the guy is now 34. The oldest fully commited player in the top 70 and still bubbly with amazing reflexes.

He seems to enjoy his ride and never complains of how tough the game has become. Unlike Agassi who is about the same age, he enters all tournies and does not mind losing as long as he can go on and play doubles afterwards. he played Mac and Lendl almost 20 years ago and now can still give Callieri a lesson or 2 on grass.

Bjorkman - Thanks for all the effort you put in the game and we all wish you successful remaing years in the circuit.

A shame he and Mirnyi went out in the QFs. It was 6-8 in the deciding tiebreaker to Bhupathi and Stepanek, a class doubles pair who have done well for themselves, so a very narrow loss to be sure - yet the loss for the defending champions as well as Bjorkman's pulling out of the mixed doubles reminds one of how his Wimbledon run also seemed to have negatively affected his doubles campaign.

He's got nothing to prove in the doubles sphere though, winning the last two RG titles, and he made quite a statement with his R16 singles showing on the most punishing surface (endurance-wise) regardless! Even staged a bit of a fightback in the third set against a former champion (and fellow veteran, whom he first played in 1996!). It made for a nice unexpected element to the unfolding of the draw. Well done to the 35-year-old Swede.

He's 35, don't undersell him roflmao

Seriously, this man is fantastic, and a lesson in how far you can go if you just get the basics of your game right...

He is also one of the best ever returners! :D