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Thomas Johansson, who counts the 2002 Australian Open among his tournament titles, announced his retirement Friday from competitive tennis.
Johansson, 34, has been hampered by injuries, including a foot injury that required surgery last fall. He's played in just two ATP-level matches this year when he competed for Sweden against Israel in a Davis Cup series.
"Looking back at my life as a tennis professional, I'm very pleased with all that I have achieved on the tennis court," Johansson said in a statement. "As a junior I dreamed of getting the chance to play on the big tennis stages around the world. This dream came true for me many times, not least when I won the Australian Open Grand Slam title in Melbourne."
Johansson, who entered the tournament as the No. 16 seed, defeated Marat Safin in four sets for the 2002 Australian Open title. Later that year he reached his career best of a No. 7 world ranking.
He won nine ATP titles and more than $7 million over a 15-year career. Johansson had a match record of 356-293. He also won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, teaming with Simon Aspelin in the doubles competition.
UPI
World number one Rafael Nadal could miss Wimbledon because of a knee injury, Spanish sports newspaper 'Marca' reported on Saturday.
Toni Nadal, the reigning Wimbledon champion's uncle and coach, said the 23-year-old had a damaged right knee and was doubtful for the Grand Slam which starts on June 22, the paper said.
"We have taken him out of the Queen's tournament (June 8-14) and will do everything possible to get him there, but this is subject to medical tests," Toni Nadal said.
"There is something wrong with his knee but right now we are uncertain what the problem is," he added.
Alarm bells rang among the player's entourage in April's Miami tournament when the four-times French Open winner Nadal complained of a severe pain in his right knee.
He reported the same problem after Swede Robin Soderling knocked him out of the French Open at Roland Garros this week.
"Rafa's body has simply said: enough!" the paper said.
The latest injury scare is not connected with the persistent tendonitis suffered by the player.
Nadal is currently resting at his home town of Manacor on the island of Mallorca and will undergo detailed medical tests from Monday.
The spectator who confronted Roger Federer during Sunday's French Open final insisted he had only wanted to express his support for the Swiss star in his bid for Grand Slam glory.
The incident, which happened with Federer leading 6-1, 2-1 against Sweden's Robin Soderling, stunned the players, officials and capacity crowd on the Philippe Chatrier centre court.
As Federer prepared to serve, the spectator, a regular interloper at sports events both at home in Spain and abroad and known by the self-styled nickname Jimmy Jump, clambered over the courtside wall and rushed up to him.
Dressed in the Swiss colours of red and white and brandishing a flag of his football team — European champions Barcelona — he tried but failed to place a red hat on Federer's head.
Security guards ran at the spectator who darted off to the other side of the court before he was brought down and carried off forcefully.
As he was being taken away he was heard saying that he had wanted to pay homage to Federer and make a gesture against dethroned Spanish champion Rafael Nadal, who is known to be a fan of Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid.
He was taken into custody and faces up to 12 months in prison or possibly more if the French Tennis Federation decides to take legal action against him.
Federer, who went on to win the match 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, said that it had not been the first time such an incident had happened to him during a match recalling similar intrusions at Wimbledon and Montreal.
"I didn't know what had happened until I heard the crowd react," he said. "So that gave me a fright seeing him so close right away.
"Normally they look at you and say 'sorry I have to do this', but this guy looked at me and I was not sure what he wanted. He seemed to want to give me something.
"Maybe I should have sat down and taken a minute to reflect on what had happened. It was a touch scary."
A factbox on the six men to win all four
grand slam titles after Roger Federer won his first French Open
on Sunday to add his name to the list.
Fred Perry (Britain)
* Completed the clean sweep in 1935 at the French Open, his
fifth title, and went on to win eight in all.
Don Budge (U.S.)
* Perry's great rival of the 1930s, Budge took just three
years to emulate the Briton's multi-surface achievement, also at
the French Open.
Rod Laver (Australia)
* One of the true greats of the sport, he won the grand slam
(all four titles in one year) in 1962 and 1969.
Roy Emerson (Australia)
* Like Budge, Emerson did not wait long to emulate his rival
by clinching the 1964 Wimbledon title.
Andre Agassi (U.S.)
* Over thirty years passed before Agassi, in 1999, became
the fifth man to win all four.
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
* Federer could have joined the list as early as 2006, when
having won the other three grand slam titles he first appeared
in a French Open final. Also finished runner-up at Roland Garros
in 2007 and 2008.
If there was any lingering doubt about whether Roger Federer was the greatest player to pick up a tennis racket, he provided the answer at 1509 GMT on Sunday.
The stylish Swiss showed his versatility by getting his hands on the Musketeers' Cup at the French Open to complete his collection of grand slam titles. Job done, Federer started to rake in the records and the accolades.
He was the proud owner of a record-equalling 14th major trophy, drawing level with Pete Sampras, and he joined Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi as the only men to win all four slams.
Only American Agassi had succeeded on three different surfaces since until the 1970s, all the slams barring the French Open were played on grass.
To put Federer's feat into context, one has to marvel at the size of the obstacle he had just cleared.
Since 2005, four-times Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal had assumed the role of being Federer's personal tormentor, beating the Swiss four times in Paris, including the last three finals.
Each time the Swiss arrived hoping to complete a career slam and each time the Spaniard sucked the life-blood out of him, particularly in last year's final when Federer won a measly four games.
Two soul-destroying five-set final losses to Nadal at last year's Wimbledon and the Australian Open in January turned Federer into a sobbing wreck.
But just when it seemed that Federer would join the likes of Sampras and John McEnroe by never conquering Roland Garros, a golden opportunity dropped into his lap when the freak from Mallorca was knocked out by Robin Soderling.
After the most nerve-jangling journey of his career, Federer climbed the summit and the view looked good from the top.
REUTERS
In the final, Safina double faulted 7 times - almost once per game.
The last point of the match - Safina served a double.
"She's been working hard on her serve."
"Much improved."
"More power."
"More consistent."
Blah, blah,blah.
But still basically flawed!
The pic shows Safina's eyes looking down the court at impact of her serve.
This usually indicates use of the ab's to generate racket head speed due to faulty throwing motion.
This technique can work - as long as the ball sits exactly in the right position for impact.
If anything disturbs that toss, look out!
If there's wind, if the player is nervous, a slew of double faults will be served.
Her match against Cirstea had both wind and nerves [Safina a nervous player?????] and 8 double faults from Safina.
Edberg had the same flaw in his serve, but he was not the nervous type.
However, if it was windy ---- he lost!!!
Croatian tennis player Mario Ancic will miss Wimbledon and the Davis Cup against the United States because he has still not regained fitness after suffering mononucleosis two years ago, Croatian media reported Thursday. Ancic, ranked No. 38 and a former Wimbledon semifinalist, had already pulled out of the French Open at Roland Garros.
"Don't ask me when I'll return, because I don't even know the answer myself," Ancic said.
REUTERS
The first five dates are the broadcasts of Madrid.
ESPN Classic will air live coverage of the May 17 exhibition matches under Wimbledon's new Centre Court roof.
Past Wimbledon champions -- and married couple -- Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are scheduled to play, as are Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters. The event is being called "A Centre Court Celebration" and will be a test of the All England Club's new retractable roof and ventilation system.
ESPN Classic will air 3½ hours of the British Broadcasting Corp. feed, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The schedule includes a men's singles match, a women's singles match and a mixed doubles match.
Wimbledon begins June 22.
AP
YESTERDAY
Serena Williams may be ranked second in the world but she believes there is no one better. The 27-year-old American was overtaken in the rankings two weeks ago by Dinara Safina, making the Russian and older sibling Marat Safin the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis. "We all know who the real No. 1 is. Quite frankly, I'm the best in the world," Williams said Monday, adding that she is her toughest opponent and "I always beat myself.
AND TODAY
Serena Williams has lost to Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in her opening match at the Italian Open. The second-ranked Williams appeared to be moving with difficulty at times at Foro Italico, where the clay match ended at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. The players did not get to center court until well after 11 p.m., as a rainstorm forced play to be suspended for 3 1/2 hours earlier in the day.
AP
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