Thomas Johansson

Titles Won (9) : 

(2005) Copenhagen, Petersburg, (1999) AMS Canada, (2000) Stockholm, (2001) Halle, Nottingham, (2002) Australian Open, (2004) Stockholm, (2005) Petersburg

Thomas Johansson is a professional tennis player from Sweden. He began playing tennis at the age of five with his father, Krister. In 1989, he became European 14s singles champion and won the doubles title with Magnus Norman. Even when he injured his right elbow while playing at the prestigious Orange Bowl 16s in 1991, he reached the final, losing to Spain's Gonzalo Corrales. The Swede made his ATP debut in 1993 at Bolzano as an unranked wildcard, reaching the quarter final where he lost to Olhobskiy. In 1994, Johansson turned professional and reached his first professional final in a Futures doubles event. In 1996, Johansson won his first Grand Slam match at the Australian Open, losing in the second round to eventual champion Boris Becker in five sets after leading by two sets to love. In February he reached his first Challenger final at the Wolfsburg (l. Pozzi) and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. In the second half of the season, the Swede posted solid and consistent form on the ATP circuit reaching two quarter finals at Bastad (l. Edberg) and Long Island (l. Voinea) as well as reaching three semi-finals at Singapore, Beijing and Stockholm. In March 1997, Johansson won his first ATP title at Copenhagen, defeating Czech Martin Damm in the final 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. In his next tournament he won his second ATP title in St. Petersburg. This was followed by back-to-back semi-finals in Hong Kong (l. Chang) and in Tokyo (l. Roux). For the second successive year, Johnasson advanced to the semi-final stages at both Beijing and Singapore.

In 1998, Johansson started the season slowly with just one win in his first four tournaments. In February, he reached the semi-final at St. Petersburg, losing to world number nine Richard Krajicek in straight sets. The Swede reached his first final of the season in March at Rotterdam, losing to Jan Siemerink. Either side of Wimbledon he reached the semi-finals at Halle (l. Kafelnikov) and Bastad (l. Gustaffson). At the Masters Series event in Cincinnati, Johnasson reached a career best quarter final before falling to fellow countryman Magnus Larsson in straight sets. At the US Open, the Swede reached a Grand Slam best quarter final, losing to Mark Philippoussis in five sets. In the earlier rounds he had seen off world number five Richard Krajicek in the third round and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the fourth round. In his next tournaments he reached back-to-back semi-finals at Toulouse (l. Siemerink) and Basel (l. Henman). In the final event of the season, Johansson lost in the final of his hometown event in Stockholm. In 1999, he captured his first Masters Series title in Montreal with wins over Jim Courier in the quarter final, Nicolas Kiefer in the semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final. He also reached three ATP semi-finals, although missed some of the season through injury after fracturing his left wrist while playing soccer in May. He was also forced to withdraw from a quarter final match at Long Island prior to the US Open due to a virus in the muscle and lining of heart. In 2000, Johansson compiled an 8-16 match record in the first half of the season before finishing 14-10. The only tournament the Swede won consecutive matches in the first six months of the season came at Wimbledon, losing to Pat Rafter in the fourth round. At the US Open he reached his second quarter final, losing to Todd Martin. He competed in his first Olympic Games at Sydney but lost in the first round to Mark Philippoussis.