Thomas Johansson, the last home winner four years ago of the Stockholm Open, bowled over Belgian Xavier Malisse 7-6
(7/4), 7-6 (7/1) on Monday to reach the second round.
The unseeded 29-year-old, the 2002 Australian Open champion, likes his chances at the Kungligahallen as he reconstructs a comeback season following a year away with knee surgery.
"I'm happy with how I played," he said. "I was able to change the pace of the match when I needed to. I want to show the fans that I can still play good tennis," Johansson said.
Third seed Andrei Pavel and number eight Fernando Verdasco of Spain both advanced on a light day with the arrival yesterday of top seed Andre Agassi imminent.
Romanian Pavel moved into the second round after his 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) defeat of Argentina's Agustin Calleri. Verdasco advanced when American Robby Ginepri pulled out with a lower back problem while trailing 6-2, 2-1.
American Jan-Michael Gambill handed Finn Jarkko Nieminen an unpleasant reminder of past poor performances.
Nieminen, who reached a surprise final as a qualifier in 2001, losing to Sjeng Schalken, has now lost in the first round for three consecutive years.
He went out to Gambill 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-2 to keep that unwanted streak alive.
Swede Joachim Johansson, seeded second, opened last night against Chile's Adrian Garcia. Johansson, a US Open finalist, is pleased to have a non-travel week.
"I'm happy to stay home, I live 30 minutes away from the event and I have a lot of friends coming to watch me, so I'm looking forward to that."
Agassi in the run
Andre Agassi was set to intensify his chase for a place in next month's eight-man Masters Cup after losing to Marat Safin in the semifinals of the Madrid Masters.
Already on site for several days in the Swedish capital is Agassi's coach, Darren Cahill, who has been studying a tape of his charge's loss in Spain.
Together they will go over the defeat to Safin with a fine toochcomb ahead of Agassi's first first-round match against Belgian Kristof Vliegen.
ATP officials on Monday confirmed Agassi's arrival, saying the eight-time Grand Slam champion had confirmed he would play after sounding somewhat disinterested in carrying on after his elimination in Madrid.
The veteran can start earning points as soon as the second round and can only add to his total of 393 the farther he progresses.
Agassi is in provisional eighth place in a field from which Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt have already qualified.
Serena desperate for win
Desperate to salvage a major title from a disappointing 2004, Serena Williams has flown to Austria to earn points for the end-of-season WTA Championships.
With two weeks of the regular season remaining, Serena and her older sister Venus are in danger of missing the eight-woman Championships for the second year.
Last year injury was the sole reason for the former world number ones' absences. This year, the sisters' inability to stem the Russian tsunami sweeping through women's tennis is why Serena has decided at the last minute to play in Linz this week.
Serena, ranked eighth in the race for the WTA Championships, told Linz organizers seven days ago she wanted to play in the 32-strong singles tournament.
But, stung by her withdrawal from the Linz event last year and in 2002, the organizers told her she would have to be on the waiting list like everyone else.
Israel's Anna Smashnova pulled out last week to create space for Williams but organizers were still not convinced Serena would turn up.
"I'll believe it only when she comes out of the aircraft and steps on Linz soil," said tournament director Sandra Reichel.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS