Thomas Johansson became the first Swede to win the Australian Open in 14 years when he overwhelmed Russian favourite Marat Safin in one of the biggest Grand Slam upsets today. The 26-year-old Swede, seeded 16, came from a set down to defeat the 2000 US Open champion 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in two hours 53 minutes to become the lowest-ranked player since Australian Mark Edmondson won in 1976.
Ninth-seeded Safin was the raging favourite to land his second Grand Slam title after conquering Pete Sampras in the fourth round and coming from behind to beat German Tommy Haas in five sets in the semi-final. The last Swede to win the Australian Open was Mats Wilander in five sets over Pat Cash in 1988. Wilander is the current coach of Safin. It also broke a losing Swedish run of 10 years since Stefan Edberg last won a Grand Slam crown at the 1992 US Open.
"These have been the best two weeks of my life and today was just a dream come true. It's unbelievable," said Johansson. "I never thought I was going to be a Grand Slam winner. But I've been playing my best tennis in every match and today I went well in every set after starting shakily.
Johansson had the buffer of five match points at 6-1 in the fourth set tiebreaker, and even though Safin saved three of them he claimed the championship when a lob by the Russian was just out. "When I saw the lob going out, that's when I knew I was going to win," said Johansson. "I played unbelievable in the tiebreaker, but having a 6-1 lead against Safin anything could happen and my legs started to shake again. When I had 6-1 I knew I had a really good chance."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
