Once in a while you come across a human being who just shines through. A person, who despite personal success and fame, manages to stay grounded and be in the present moment. A person in whose company you just feel valued and appreciated.
Our new Enoksen ambassador, Michael Mortensen is exactly that kind of a man.
Born and raised in Copenhagen Michael got the tennis bug from an early age, but at a time where there was no such thing as a Danish professional tennis player. Tennis in Denmark was an amateur sport, unlike in neighbouring Sweden where Bjørn Borg had started to blaze a trail. A trail which fellow Swedes like Mikael Pernfors and many others could follow. And also a Dane, it turns out. Michael spent most of his formative tennis years in Sweden and grew up among Swedish legends like Mats Wilander, Hans Simonsson, and Joakim Nystrom.
It soon became clear that the handsome Dane was ideally suited for doubles rather than singles, and it was with partners like Mats Wilander and Jan Gunnarsson that Michael had his biggest triumphs. Also the Danish Davis Cup team benefitted from his skills, and he was a part of the overachieving Danish squad during the 1980s.
When Michael finally called it a day and hung up his racket, tennis kept calling. He became a sought-after coach and worked with fellow Dane Caroline Wozniacki for a while.
His crowning moment as a coach came in 2011 when he guided the Chinese player Li Na to the French Open title - the first Asian player to ever win a grand slam title.
In 2017 Michael’s autobiography ‘Grus’ ('Clay' in English) became the best selling sports book in Denmark. ‘Grus’ is a summary of a life well lived, but also an honest and heartbreaking inside track to personal tragedy in the wake of losing his daughter to a road accident.
Today Michael Mortensen works as an expert commentator at Eurosport, and is the go-to source when the news media are looking for specialist knowledge on current tennis affairs.