Sven Viktor Davidson (13 July 1928 – 28 May 2008) was a Swedish tennis player who became the first Swede to win a Grand Slam title when he won the French Championships in 1957, beating Ashley Cooper and Herbert Flam.
Career
Davidson also reached the French championships final in the two previous years. In 1955, he lost to Tony Trabert. In 1956, he lost to Lew Hoad. At the 1957 U.S. Championships, Davidson lost in five sets in the semifinals to Mal Anderson. In 1958, Davidson partnered with Ulf Schmidt to win the doubles title at the Wimbledon Championships, defeating the Australian pair Ashley Cooper and Neale Fraser. He played his last Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in 1959.
Davidson reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 2.
Davidson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007. He died in Arcadia on 28 May 2008 as a result of pneumonia.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 title, 2 runners-up)
{| class='sortable wikitable'
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:125px"|Opponent
!style="width:120px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1955||style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships||Clay|| Tony Trabert||6–2, 1–6, 4–6, 2–6
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1956||style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships||Clay|| Lew Hoad||4–6, 6–8, 3–6
|-
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win ||1957||style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships||Clay|| Herbie Flam||6–3, 6–4, 6–4
|}
Doubles (1 title)
{| class='sortable wikitable'
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:125px"|Partner
!style="width:125px"|Opponents
!style="width:100px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1958 || style="background:#ccffcc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Ulf Schmidt || Ashley Cooper<br /> Neale Fraser || 6–4, 6–4, 8–6
|}
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
Singles
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Tournament !!1949 !!1950 !!1951 !!1952 !!1953 !!1954 !!1955 !!1956 !!1957 !!1958 !!1959!!
|-
| align=left bgcolor=#efefef|Australian Championships
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee|3R
| A
| A
| A
| A
| bgcolor=#efefef| 0 / 1
|-
| align=left bgcolor=#efefef|French Championships
| bgcolor=afeeee|1R
| bgcolor=afeeee|4R
| bgcolor=afeeee|4R
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee|4R
| bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
| bgcolor=thistle|F
| bgcolor=thistle|F
| bgcolor=lime|W
| A
| A
| bgcolor=#efefef| 1 / 8
|-
| align=left bgcolor=#efefef|Wimbledon
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee|1R
| bgcolor=afeeee|2R
| A
| bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
| bgcolor=afeeee|4R
| bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
| bgcolor=afeeee|2R
| bgcolor=yellow|SF
| bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
| bgcolor=afeeee|3R
| bgcolor=#efefef| 0 / 9
|-
| align=left bgcolor=#efefef|U.S. National Championships
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee|2R
| A
| A
| bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
| bgcolor=afeeee|4R
| A
| A
| bgcolor=yellow|SF
| A
| A
| bgcolor=#efefef| 0 / 4
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:#efefef;"
| style=text-align:left|Strike rate
| 0 / 1
| 0 / 3
| 0 / 2
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 3
| 0 / 3
| 0 / 3
| 0 / 2
| 1 / 3
| 0 / 1
| 0 / 1
|
|}