John Roberts: Johansson the 'dwarf' with a giant's presence

Australian Open champion will lead Sweden's Davis Cup charge

Internal link

Absence of court support follows excess of success

Starved of a major tennis triumph since the Queen celebrated her silver jubilee in 1977, Britain seems to regard the success of smaller nations such as Sweden as a matter of course, as if the sun had blessed row upon row of seedlings in Stockholm.

Thomas Johansson, whose mission in Birmingham this week is to end Britain's Davis Cup campaign in the first round of the World Group, did not exactly emerge neatly packaged from a conveyer belt to add to Sweden's glory by winning the Australian Open. But for a helping hand, his talent might have withered in the nursery.

Born in Linköping in 1975, the year Bjorn Borg inspired Sweden to the first of their seven Davis Cup victories, Johansson began playing tennis at the age of five with his father, Krister. Early promise was confirmed when he won the European 14-and-under singles championship, along with the doubles title in partnership with Magnus Norman.

The snag was that the Johanssons did not have enough money to support their son's travelling expenses. They sold the family caravan, but still fell short of covering the cost.

"That was the toughest thing that ever happened to me," Krister recalled in an interview with Expressen. "My wife and I talked about it for days before we had enough courage to tell Thomas. Then we took him downstairs to the kitchen and told him the truth: he would have to quit playing tennis, since we couldn't afford it. I'll never forget the look on his face."

Three local companies restored Thomas's smile by raising a total of 51,000 krona (about £3,500) so that he could continue to play tournaments abroad. "I don't know who cried the most, Thomas or me," Krister said. "He has paid us back in many ways. But the thing I appreciate the most is that he calls home every day, no matter where he is in the world."

Some of those calls are made from Monte Carlo, where Johansson is now based as a member of tennis's tax exile community.

Although Johansson loved tennis and dreamed of following the line of Borg, Mats Wilander – his particular favourite – and Stefan Edberg, he did have an alternative occupation in mind when growing up. He thought he might become a doctor. But that was before complications set in. "I hate to see blood," he said.

In spite of that he does not rule out the possibility of a job in sports medicine at the end of his playing career. "I would like to work as a trainer or guy who is trying to help different athletes to get back on the road again," he said. "I would like to see how the body works."

Many an opponent would like to know how Johansson's body works after witnessing his stealthy progress through the tennis minefields at Melbourne Park last month. He has been called a journeyman. Some journey.

Placed in the lower section of the draw, where circumstances dictated that the ambitious could inherit a shot at the title, Johansson, seeded No 16, survived an Anglo/ Swedish mêlée. Jonas Bjorkman eliminated Thomas Enqvist and accounted for Tim Henman, who had outplayed Greg Rusedski, and Johansson defeated Bjorkman in the quarter-finals.

Johansson went on to shade Jiri Novak, of the Czech Republic, in five sets for a place in the final, having lost the second set, 0-6. "Had this semi-final been played a couple of years ago," remarked Carl-Axel Hageskog, Sweden's Davis Cup captain, "Thomas may have lost it after the second set. He has gained more patience."

Edberg, a winner of six Grand Slam singles titles, agreed with the captain, telling the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter: "Thomas is no longer whining so much and reacting so negatively to setbacks."

But none of this quite prepared observers for Johansson's dismantling of the powerful Russian Marat Safin in four sets after losing the opening set of the final: mind over muscle, timing over temerity

Johansson's unflappability on the major occasion contrasted with his uncertain response when confronted with an ailing Safin in the final set of their first encounter in the semi-finals of the Dubai Open in March last year. Safin, who damaged his lower back while serving at 2-2, 0-30, played with greater composure after treatment – a situation that seemed to unnerve the Swede – and the Russian went on to win, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.

Displaying few signs of nerves in Melbourne, Johansson's victory was a refreshing reminder that size is not everything in the men's game. At 5ft 11 in, he is the same height as Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, although about a stone heavier than Australia's reigning world No 1 and eight pounds lighter than the American master of all surfaces.

The heftiest aspect of Johansson is his serve. "Who, your size, serves as well as you do and as hard as you do?" the Swede was asked by Jim Courier after defeating the American former world No 1 en route to winning the Masters Series tournament in Montreal in 1999. Hageskog considers Johansson's serve to be even more solid these days. "He has one of the best serves in the game," the captain said. "When he hits a straight serve at up to 210 kmh, not many can catch up."

Opponents who do return Johansson's serve, without hitting outright winners, then have the task of keeping pace with him in rallies. "I have played a lot of squash, a faster game with a completely different moving pattern," he said. "That has been very useful."

Johansson has benefited from the camaraderie among Swedish players. Wilander practised with him just hours before Johansson won his first match on the ATP Tour, a victory against Karel Novacek in Bolzano in 1993. Like Wilander, Johansson won his first Grand Slam singles title before being ranked in the world top 10, although Wilander was only 17 when victorious at the French Open in 1982.

In common with most of his compatriots, Johansson is passionate about ice hockey. During the Montreal tournament in August last year he turned out alongside Enqvist and Bjorkman for the ATP Stars in their annual street hockey challenge match against a team representing the National Hockey League. With a full house of 3,500 spectators cheering the action on Court No 1, Johansson was rated the most valuable player after scoring two goals and assisting on a goal by Enqvist as the ATP side won, 6-5.

"Everyone says that I am not big into other sports," Johansson said. "If you take Enqvist, Norman and everyone, they know everything. I don't know a thing about rules, things like that. They laugh at me."

When it comes to discussing ice hockey, however, Johansson's views tend to be respected. "I have a favourite team in Sweden called Djurgarden," he said. "It's a pretty silly name because if you translate it directly they're called 'animal garden'. But they come from Stockholm and I like them."

He does not dwell on the subject of silly names, which is understandable considering that back home he is known as Toker. He explained that the nickname "means you are a little crazy," adding that "in Sweden, Toker is also one of the seven dwarfs in Snow White. The one with the big ears.