Wimbledon, once such a lush paradise for the Swedes, has been a distant and unreachable land for men from the country of Bjorn Borg and Stefan Edberg in recent times.

It has been neither a happy nor an unhappy hunting ground; it has simply existed beyond their sphere of influence, forcing them to watch from afar, looking in from the outside, trying and failing to sneak through a gap in the gates. For a nation with such a grand tennis pedigree, the slump is hard to take.

When Robin Soderling lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the second round in 2011, few people could have predicted it would be another four years before Sweden had a male player in the first round at Wimbledon.

It meant that there was a buzz on Court 12 for Ivo Karlovic’s match against Elias Ymer, who was making a tiny slice of Wimbledon history in a way, the first Swedish man in the draw since Soderling’s last appearance in SW19. Ymer lost but his commendable performance in his 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 defeat to Karlovic, one of the most awkward opponents on tour, offered glimpses of a brighter future for Sweden.

There is a vital context to the decline, for Soderling’s story is tinged with a heavy sadness. Sweden did have a top player, someone who had one of the most brutal forehands in the game, and he was cut down in his prime by mononucleosis. Soderling is only 30 and recently said he is targeting a return in 2016 but it is a forlorn hope that he will be able to regain his old level.

In the 70s and 80s, Sweden ruled. Borg won five consecutive Wimbledons, Edberg won it in 1988 and 1990, and the dominance was so stark that there were only two years between 1974 and 1992 when a Swede failed to win a grand slam.

Ymer has a long way to go before he matches those astounding achievements but the 19-year-old, who has Ethiopian heritage, is rated highly by many pundits. He is part of Magnus Norman’s academy and it will surely not be long before he wins his first match at a grand slam. Guardian Service