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Revision as of 02:47, 24 July 2008 by 142.103.8.38(talk)(F. Santoro is older and still in top 100)
Thomas Johansson (born March 24, 1975, in Linköping, Sweden) is a professional tennis player. He joined the pro tour for the first time in 1993 and has won 9 top-level singles titles and 1 doubles title, including the 1999Canada Masters (df. Yevgeny Kafelnikov) and the 2002Australian OpenGrand Slam championship, which he unexpectedly won (on his 25th attempt at winning a Grand Slam title) after defeating his heavily favored opponent, Marat Safin, in four sets, 3–6 6–4 6–4 7–6. Johansson became the first Swedish player to win a Slam since Stefan Edberg won the 1992U.S. Open title, and the first Swede to claim the Australian since Mats Wilander in 1988.
Johansson would later reach his career high ranking of World No. 7 in June of 2002 and finish the season with a career best year-end ranking of 14th in the ATP Champions Race, a feat he would later repeat in 2005.
A knee injury robbed Johansson of the latter half of the 2002 season and all of 2003, and Johansson was therefore unable to compete on the tour full-time until 2004. In 2005, he became the first Swedish player to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon since Stefan Edberg in 1993, losing to Andy Roddick in a tightly contested four set match, 7–6 2–6 6–7 6–7. At the end of the season, Johansson won his 9th, and until now, last ATP tournament in St. Petersburg, defeating Nicolas Kiefer 6–4 6–2.
In 2006, the Swede struggled through the season after suffering an eye injury early in the season. The highlights of the season were a 4th RD at the Australian Open (where he lost to Ivan Ljubičić), his first doubles title in Bastaad, Sweden with countryman Jonas Björkman and a final in St. Petersburg (lost to Mario Ancic), where he was the defending champion.
As of October 15, 2007, he has an 15-13 career Davis Cup record (14-10 in singles) in 14 ties and an 342-273 career overall. He is currently 39th in the ATP rankings. He is sponsored by Dunlop Sport for racquets and apparel and adidas for shoes.
Junior career
Began playing tennis at age five with his father, Krister. In 1989, became European 14s singles champion and won doubles title (w/Magnus Norman). Injured his right elbow while playing Orange Bowl 16s in 1991, but still reached final, losing to Spain’s Gonzalo Corrales. Finished No. 10 in 1993 world junior rankings.
Personal
His idol while growing up was Mats Wilander, who is captain of Swedish Davis Cup team. He is a fan of popular culture, reading books by Swedish author Henning Mankell, National Geographic magazine and watching TV show Friends ( he owns almost every episode on DVD). His favorite actors are Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. Johansson is a fan of U2, Depeche Mode and Swedish band Kent, and is a keen player of golf and floorball. Johansson is a fan of ice hockey, frequently watching Linköpings HC and Djurgårdens IF. He scored two goals and assisted on another in 6–5 win by ATP Stars over NHL Players in annual street hockey challenge in Montreal in 2001. Johansson married Gisella on December 3, 2005.
As of October 14, 2007. To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is only updated once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics.
Sweden
Marat Safin
Jerusalem
Patrick Baur
Napoli
Frederic Vitoux
Copenhagen
Martin Damm
Montreal
Nottingham
Australian Open
Andre Agassi
Dušan Vemić
Lillehammer
Tampere
Emanuel Couto &
Oliver Marach
Rotterdam
Paradorn Srichaphan
Mario Ančić
East London
Kevin Ullyett