Johansson realises impossible dream

Australian Open: Journeyman humbles stuttering Safin as defending women's champion hands out heartbreak

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The Swedish nonentity was supposed to fall in three sets to the tempestuous Russian, but someone forgot to give Thomas Johansson the script. With scant chance of winning and nothing to lose, he gave it his all and upset the favourite, Marat Safin, to be crowned the Australian Open champion yesterday.

Johansson, who overwhelmed Safin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6, had never ventured beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam before and had evoked little interest during his eight-year career. He found himself in the final after gliding through a draw denuded of seeds, and his legs were shaking when he walked out on to centre court.

An hour into the match here at Melbourne Park, the bemused expression that he had worn since the middle of last week gave way to one of serene resolve. Safin, the 2000 US Open champion, was behaving oddly. His mind was elsewhere, his tennis on another planet. He could, the 26-year-old Swede realised, be beaten.

"Before I went out there, I thought I had a small chance of winning – he might break a leg on the court," he joked, adding: "We've played each before and I knew that if I played really, really well, I might have a chance."

Johansson – who overcame the likes of Markus Hipfl, Adrian Voinea and Jiri Novak, hardly household names, to reach the final – did play really well in the 2hr 53min match. But Safin – who claimed the scalps of Pete Sampras and Tommy Haas en route – played really badly, defeated by his own notoriously fragile psyche as much as the 16th-seeded Swede.

The Russian, who turned 22 yesterday, said: "Thomas played too good today. I couldn't do anything against him, as you could see. It's a good lesson for the future. I have to change something. I have to be more clever, do something different on the court."

Initially it seemed that the match would be brief as Safin broke serve in the opening game and sailed through the first set in 33 minutes. Johansson – cheered on by two dozen Swedish fans with painted faces, blonde pigtails and Viking helmets – had four break points, but the ninth-seed used his big serve to get out of hot water.

In the third game of the next set, though, he double-faulted to give his opponent a break point and then netted a forehand, changing forever the momentum of the match. A newly-confident Johansson began to set the pace, sending Safin charging from side to side and levelling the score at one set all.

The self-confessed "not very interesting" Swede displayed flashes of personality, arguing with line judges and thwacking his racket on the ground as he kept up the pressure in the third set to similar effect. Safin, meanwhile, moped around the baseline, an expression of existential anguish on his face.

The Russian gave away a 6-1 lead in the fourth-set tie-break, but it was only when a Safin lob was called out on the fourth match point that Johansson dared believe that the impossible had come to pass. With a delighted smile, he bashed a ball into the crowd, gave a little wave and sat down.

Johansson, whose boyhood idols were Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander, blew a kiss to his fiancée, Gisella, as his name joined theirs on the trophy. The first Swede to win a Grand Slam since Edberg took the 1992 US Open title said: "Today was a dream come true for me. I have no words to say how happy I am.

"I never thought I was going to win a Grand Slam. I dreamt about this, I saw it on TV, but I never knew I was going to stand there on the court today. I was really lucky to win. I'm almost over the hill. I played my best tennis ever in the last three sets."

Johansson was forced to hail a taxi to get to the match because his coach forgot to order a courtesy car. His victory propelled him to No 10 in the world and was the biggest upset of a tournament where top seeds fell like ninepins.

Sadly, there was just one Swedish journalist here to record his historic triumph, and she arrived only two days ago. Interest in tennis is currently nil in Sweden, although Johansson – who is expected to lead the Davis Cup team into battle against Great Britain in Birmingham next month – hopes things may improve following his win.

He is happy at the prospect of being mobbed in restaurants. "It would be nice, because it hasn't been like that in either Sweden or Monaco, where I live. This is going to change my life forever, and I think that's great."

* The Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova and Kevin Ullyett, of Zimbabwe, won the mixed doubles title with a 6-3 6-2 victory over the Argentinians, Gaston Etlis and Paola Suarez. Hantuchova lost the final of the women's doubles when she and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario were beaten by Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova.

MELBOURNE CHAMPIONS

Men's singles, final: T JOHANSSON (Swe) bt M SAFIN (Rus) 3-6 6-4 6-4 7-6.

Women's singles, final: J CAPRIATI (US) bt M HINGIS (Swit) 4-6 7-6 6-2.

Men's doubles, final: M KNOWLES (Baha) and D NESTOR (Can) bt M Llodra (Fr) and F Santoro (Fr) 7-6 6-3.

Women's doubles, final: M HINGIS (Swit) and A KOURNIKOVA (Rus) bt D HANTUCHOVA (Slovak) and A SANCHEZ-VICARIO (Sp) 6-2 6-7 6-1.

Mixed doubles, final: K Ullyett (Zim) and D Hantuchova (Slovak) bt G Etlis (Arg) and P Suarez (Arg) 6-3 6-2.

Boys' singles, final: C MOREL (Fr) bt T REID (Aus) 6-4 6-4.

Boys' doubles, final: R HENRY and T REID (Aus) bt F Mergea and H Tecau (Rom) w/o.

Girls' singles, final: B STRYCOVA (Cz Rep) bt M Sharapova (Rus) 6-0 7-5.

Girls' doubles, final: G DULKO (Arg) and A WIDJAJA (Indon) bt S KUZNETSOVA (Rus) and M MEZAK (Croa) 6-2 5-7 6-4.

Seeds in capitals