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Joachim Johansson Profile |
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Birth Date: January 7, 1982
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Birth Place: Lund, Scåne, Sweden
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Birth Name: Joachim Johansson
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Height: 6'6"
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Biography |
Joachim "PimPim" Johansson (born July 1, 1982) is a
professional male tennis player from Sweden.
Johansson was born in Lund and currently lives in
Monte-Carlo, Monaco. His father, Leif Johansson, was also a
tennis player and represented Sweden in the Davis Cup in the
1970s. He is not related to former Australian Open champion
and fellow Swede Thomas Johansson. He goes by the nickname
"Pim Pim," which is a popular Swedish candy. Since 2005, he
has reported Swedish hurdler Jenny Kallur is his girlfriend.
Johansson won his first ATP singles title in 2004 when he
overcame Nicolas Kiefer in the Memphis final. In 2005 he won
another two titles (Adelaide and Marseille).
He caused a huge upset at the 2004 US Open when he beat
defending champion Andy Roddick in five sets in the
quarterfinals. An unusual aspect of the match was that
Roddick won 24 points more than Johansson but was defeated
nonetheless. Johansson subsequently lost his semifinal
against Lleyton Hewitt.
Johansson underwent shoulder surgery in July 2005, forcing
him to stop playing the rest of the year. In 2006 he added
physical rehabilitation and development practice with coach
Agne Bergvall together with swedish track and field stars
Carolina Klüft, Susanna and Jenny Kallur. In February 2006,
he played in the SAP Open in San Jose but sustained another
injury. He was then forced to skip tournaments in Indian
Wells and Miami until beginning a second comeback in July
2006 by playing Challenger and Futures tournaments.
In October 2006, Johansson made a triumphant return to the
ATP Tour in the Stockholm Open. As a wildcard, he defeated
Davide Sanguinetti in the first round, and stunned top seed
and world number two Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the
second round. In that match, Johansson fired 17 aces, and
announced his return to the top of the game, calling it his
"greatest win ever." Johansson made it to the semifinals of
the tournament before losing to fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen
in three sets. In his next tournament, the Madrid Masters,
Johansson pulled off another upset in the second round,
defeating fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in three sets. He
was forced, however, to withdraw from his next match due to
a throat infection.
Unsurprisingly for a player who is 198 cm (6'6") tall,
Johansson's most effective stroke is his serve while his
greatest weakness is his footwork.
For a while he held the record for most aces served in one
match as he aced Andre Agassi 51 times in the 4th round of
the 2005 Australian Open (though he still lost the match in
four sets). In the post-match press conference, Johansson
said he felt he could have served better. The record was
broken at Wimbledon 2005 by Ivo Karlović, who lost the match
in five sets. |
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