It was Peter Lundgren who helped a “lazy” but talented Roger Federer win his first Grand Slam. An accomplished player in his time, Lundgren coached a number of players with Federer being his most famous mentee. Lundgren, who was once part of Sweden’s golden generation of tennis, sadly passed away on Thursday (August 23). Though this news came as a sudden blow, he had shared a concerning health update last year.

It was Peter’s son Lukas who broke the news of his father’s demise in an emotional Facebook post. “Rest in peace, Dad. One of the best has unfortunately left us far too soon. A coach, player, friend and father. An inspiration and helping hand for many, both on and off the court. The impression you made and the memories will always live on,” he shared. Apart from Federer, Lundgren had also coached Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Marcos Baghdatis and others. His sudden demise at 59, led to speculation about his health.

Peter Lundgren had his foot amputated last year

Last year in October, Peter Lundgren took to his Facebook page to update that his left foot and part of his leg had been amputated. He had suffered a broken ankle in September, which didn’t heal properly, likely due to his suffering from Type 2 diabetes. 

Sharing this news with a picture of his bandaged left foot, he wrote, “I was going to give an update on my foot. Unfortunately, I had to amputate my foot and a bit up 10 days ago and because of the infection I had and my broken ankle did not heal because of my type 2 diabetes you get bad circulation. But now I feel well again and soon my rehab will begin.”  He thanked people for their wishes and wrote, that it was ” Time to fight.”

However, within a year of this update, we had to say our farewell to the legendary coach from Sweden who once reached the No. 25 rank in tennis. Following his passing, tributes have been coming in from the tennis community, with legendary Björn Borg paying his respects.

“Peter Lundgren was a wonderful person with a big heart and a lot of humour. He was a really good friend. He was loved by all. He will be missed in the tennis world,” Borg told Sportbladet.

Grigor Dimitrov shared a picture of himself and his former coach and wrote, “Missing you extra today pal R.I.P,” while Wawrinka shared a series of pictures of himself with Lundgren on his Instagram story writing,“You will be missed,” along with a broken heart emoji. As a coach, Peter came to the limelight, when he guided enigmatic Marcelo Rios to become a top 10 player.

Following this, he worked for the Swiss Tennis Federation where he first met Roger Federer and eventually replaced Peter Carter as his coach. Having coached the Swiss maestro to his first Grand Slam win in 2003, he decided to move on.

Two years later, he would guide Russian tennis star Marat Safin to the Australian Open title, further adding to his reputation. Lundgren would also go on to coach the British Davis Cup team in 2006. This was followed by coaching stints with Baghdatis, Dimitrov, and Wawrinka. After his split with Wawrinka in 2011, he took up the coaching role for Daniela Hantuchova, three years later. 

While he was known for his coaching prowess, Lundgren has also had a solid career as a player. Turning pro in 1983, he was ranked alongside some of the best names in Sweden tennis which included Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Anders Järryd, Joakim Nyström, Henrik Sundström, and Jan Gunnarsson.

In 1985, after he won the tournament in Cologne, Germany, Lundgren was branded the new Björn Borg” due to his long hair and the fact that he had trained with the legend, with his game also resembling Borg. He would go on to win three singles titles, while his best performance in a Grand Slam came when he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1989. Lundgren retired in 1995 and went into coaching.

His association with Federer is most well-known, having helped the young Swiss player to realize his potential early in his career. Lundgren once revealed that Federer wasn’t easy to coach and was “difficult” to work with at times.

Lundgren’s coaching experience with Roger Federer

When Lundgren coached Roger Federer, he observed some problems with his fitness at the time. In 2020, during an interview with Tenis Brazil, Lundgren mentioned, “It is never easy to work with a tennis player, but at the time Roger was a very talented young man, only lazy,” Lundgren said. “He had some problems to concentrate, besides that he was not physically on point.”

Still, Lundgren saw what Federer was capable of and he would soon prove him right. In the same interview, he pointed out, “Things happened quickly for him because he always wanted to be the best and I saw that he had the potential to achieve that.”

The truth is that he was a difficult person to work with, but he has a big heart and is a good guy. He grew up very fast, and today he is the tennis ambassador. I am very proud of him,” he added.

After winning his first Wimbledon title in 2003 under Lundgren, Federer would go on to add seven more titles at the All-England Tennis Championships, ending his career with a total of 20 Grand Slams.

It is fair to say that Lundgren indeed reshaped Federer’s career, propelling him to enormous success in the sport. And now that he rests in peace, one thing is sure: we will certainly miss Lundgren!