Thomas Johansson

Born: March 24, 1975 in Linköping (ÖsterGötland)
Height: 1.79 m
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

The Grand Slam champions from Sweden and their number of titles are as follows:
11 – Björn Borg, 7 – Mats Wilander, 6 – Stefan Edberg…
and 1 – Thomas “ToJo” Johansson, who is not related to Joachim “Pim-Pim” Johansson (the US Open ’04 semifinalist). Despite producing many distinctive players in the 80s and 90s, Sweden only saw “ToJo” joining the three great Swedes: Borg, Wilander, and Edberg as a Grand Slam titleholder. Johansson first caught my attention in 1993, as an unranked 18-year-old ‘wildcard’ (he had been recognised as a big talent already four years earlier becoming the best European under 14), when he defeated the experienced Karel Nováček, then ranked No. 17, in Bolzano. He made it to the quarterfinals, where he lost a close three-setter to Andrey Olhovskiy. Such an impressive debut – without any prior experience in Challengers or Satellites – was absolutely astonishing, and I thought he would become an extraordinary player.
I first saw him on TV in 1995, playing against Michael Stich in Vienna, a few months later against Boris Becker in Melbourne and Goran Ivanišević in Munich. However, in these three matches he didn’t make much of an impression on me, even though he won the first two sets against Becker, known as a slow-starter though. Then, in May 1996, Johansson surprised many, including myself, by dismantling Henri Leconte 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 in the Frenchman’s farewell match on Centre Court in Paris. Seeing the young, humble Swede win so convincingly in such a significant match, with the entire stadium against him, was unexpected. If someone had told me then that he would become a Grand Slam champion, I wouldn’t have believed it. He seemed too reserved, too timid to capture the biggest titles.
I always appreciated Johansson’s powerful first serve (considering his relatively modest height) and his ability to perfectly hit ground-strokes down the line from both wings. Struggling to close out tight matches could have easily dashed his hopes of ever reaching a major final. “It’s the worst what could happen. I would prefer to lose 2-6, 2-6, 2-6” said the devastated Swede after a heart-breaking quarterfinal loss at the US Open ’98. Nonetheless, more than three years later, he seized his opportunity in Melbourne, aided by fortunate circumstances (Andre Agassi‘s withdrawal, a favorable draw in the second week, and Marat Safin‘s infamous birthday party a night before the final). He stunned the tennis world by lifting the Australian Open ’02 trophy, becoming one of the most surprising Grand Slam champions in history. “I was only 24 years old, so for me, it was a huge title,” Johansson reflected on his first widely acclaimed success at the 1999 Canadian Open, a victory that undoubtedly gave him the confidence to truly believe in winning a major event. “All of the best players in the world were there. It was like an approval that if I played my best tennis, I could compete with the best. Beating Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Jim Courier, two big champions, was just amazing.” Until the end of his career, Johansson was unable to replicate his Montreal and Melbourne achievements, but he did play some of his best tennis in Autumn ’04, when he defeated Agassi in the final in Stockholm.
Two other notable results following his Australian glory, were reaching the Wimbledon ’05 semifinal and earning a silver medal in doubles at the Olympics the year before. Considering the generally strong performances of Swedish players on clay courts over the decades as well as Johansson’s super solid baseline strokes, it is inexplicable that he never reached the third round at Roland Garros in eleven appearances, and took part in only one ATP semifinal on clay (which occurred when his opponent decided not to play the quarterfinal due to injury). Johansson finished his career with a disappointing 35% win rate on clay.
Trivia: in January 2004, he made another unranked run to an ATP quarterfinal, in Adelaide, following knee surgery that had sidelined him for the entire 2003 season.

Career record: 357–296 [ 288 events ]
Career titles: 9
Highest ranking: No. 7
Best GS results:
Australian Open (champion 2002)
Wimbledon (semifinal 2005)
US Open (quarterfinal 1998 and 2000)
Davis Cup champion 1998 (didn’t play in the final)
World Team Cup champion 2008