Tra serve and volley: l’immaginario eroico di Stefan Edberg

Abstract

This work intends to investigate the figure of Stefan Edberg from two perspectives: on the one hand the icon of Edberg within the sporting imagery in relation with the hero mythology, and on the other, starting from the particular development of the Serve and volley, as it can make us understand tennis in a mediological key. This analysis must therefore take into account the technical-tactical characteristics of Edberg's game and the relationships that the Swedish tennis player has had with the media who have built the character (Marchesini 2016). The purpose of the article is to trace the particular heroic substance of Edberg suspended between the shine of the classical hero and the duplicity of the modern hero. This heroic substance is investigated also starting from the figure that the media have built of the Swedish tennis player.