27 Facts About Kent Carlsson

Kent Carlsson was born on 3 January 1968 and is a former tennis player from Sweden.

The family always parked their caravan at Hemmeslov's campsite early in the summer, which is where Kent Carlsson started to play tennis at the age of four.

However, because they had to be eight years old to enter the tennis school at TK Hobby, Kent Carlsson began playing table tennis, handball, football, and bandy.

Kent Carlsson got an exemption in the summer of 1975, and was thus able to play on the outdoor courts of the tennis school at the age of seven.

Kent Carlsson was a successful junior winning the Kalle Anka Cup, which is a Swedish junior tournament held in Bastad, for four consecutive seasons, 1979,1980,1981 and 1982, once in the under 11 category, twice in the under 13s and once in the under 15.

Kent Carlsson still holds the record for the most overall titles wins at 4, one more than Thomas Enqvist and Thomas Johansson who both won it 3 times.

Kent Carlsson could have won a fifth title in Bastad if the 1983 edition had not coincided with the European Championship for U16 players.

Kent Carlsson was a three-time European Champion between 1981 and 1983, winning the U14 tournament twice, a feat that remains unmatched, and winning the U16 event once, beating Bruno Oresar in the final.

Kent Carlsson was dominant in his age group and did not lose a single match against an opponent of the same age until right at the end of his career.

Kent Carlsson's successes at Bastad were of great importance to Carlsson since they encouraged him to pursue a tennis career despite not being "born with an athletic body".

For instance, Kent Carlsson was diagnosed with "grasshopper knee bowl" in 1983, by Dr Jan Ekstrand, who had previously worked with, among other groups, the Sweden national team.

However, Kent Carlsson was "stubborn, so instead of feeling sorry for myself, I found solutions".

Kent Carlsson was critical of his contemporary players whom he thought too spoilt concerning medical conditions.

Kent Carlsson believed that with his medical issues his only chance to reach the top level would be to take shortcuts and play at a quicker pace.

Up against the best in the world despite the age difference, Kent Carlsson won the tournament, beating Emilio Sanchez in the final.

Kent Carlsson played his first professional match in 1983 losing to Heinz Gunthardt in Geneva.

Kent Carlsson won his first challenger title without losing a set in Neu-Ulm defeating Raul Viver.

Kent Carlsson made two finals in Madrid, losing to Joakim Nystrom and at Bordeaux, losing to Paolo Cane.

In 1987 Kent Carlsson retired against Mecir at Indian Wells with a knee injury which plagued his career and restricted him to playing mostly on clay and only 13 career matches on hardcourts.

Kent Carlsson came back and won two titles, both against Emilio Sanchez in the final, at Nice and Bologna.

That is the record for the fewest games dropped to win an International Series tournament Kent Carlsson said that this was his best tournament of his career.

Kent Carlsson won the German Open without losing a set defeating Henri Leconte in the final making use of his heavy topspin off both sides, especially the forehand side.

Kent Carlsson followed that up with a semi final performance at the Rome Masters losing to Ivan Lendl.

Kent Carlsson lost to Jonas Svensson in 5 sets at Roland Garros in the fourth round.

Kent Carlsson won 3 more titles after Wimbledon, at Kitzbuhel defeating Emilio Sanchez, St Vincent defeating Thierry Champion and his last career title at Barcelona defeating Thomas Muster.

In Davis Cup Kent Carlsson defeated Thierry Tulasne in a dead rubber at Bastad, he was a finalist at Geneva losing to Marian Vajda and at Palermo losing to Mats Wilander.

Kent Carlsson developed the interest as a teenager and it was natural for him to take this as a new career and said "there is a great deal of satisfaction from training a horse from the beginning".