Many tennis fans are excited about the return of Joachim Johansson, who is most affectionately known as Pim-Pim.
The former world no. 9 from Sweden announced last week that he would resume his professional tennis career starting at the Stockholm Open, where he has received a wild card for the main draw, which starts on Monday.
The 26-year-old Johansson originally retired from the ATP circuit in February after suffering from shoulder injuries for three years.
“My shoulder feels much better and when Pelle (Per Hjertquist, Tournament Director) asked me to play here it felt like a very exciting challenge," Johansson said.
"It’s extra special for me to play this tournament, with home court advantage and with the wonderful atmosphere in the arena.”
The Stockholm Open will be Johansson’s only event in 2008, while he will resume a full schedule starting in 2009.
The 6’6’’ right-hander played his last professional match in Stockholm last year, defeating Carlos Berlocq in the first round before withdrawing from his second match due to illness.
Johansson captured three ATP titles during his professional career. His best Grand Slam performance came at the ’04 US Open, when he beat defending champion Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals before falling to Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals.
He reached a career-high No. 9 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on February 14, 2005.
(Via menstennisforums, Image via joachimjohansson.org)
Dinara Safina took a trip to a vineyard earlier this week.
At Stuttgart for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, it was obvious that she would only travel there in a Porsche. A classy white Porsche, to be exact.
She looked rather skeptical here, as to whether she should take a sip of the red wine or not.
I wonder if Russian Safina prefers a straight shot of vodka instead ;)
By the way, in last night's second round match, Dinara Safina defeated Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1, 7-6(6). She will play Venus Williams tonight, which I expect to be an interesting match that you don't want to miss.
Kei Nishikori couldn't expect anything more worse than being punished in front of his home crowd.
In just 55 minutes, Richard Gasquet, the world no. 13 crushed Nishikori 6-1, 6-2.
"He played really well and there wasn't much I could do," Nishikori told the near-capacity crowd of 9,123 at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum.
"I knew he was strong. I respected him too much."
The unseeded Nishikori was hard-pressed to live up to the exorbitant expectations placed on him in the wake of a breakout year that included becoming the first Japanese to win an ATP event in 16 years.
Already Japan's top male player in over a decade, the 18-year-old never displayed the poise or confidence that carried him to victories in the first two rounds, his first-ever wins in an ATP tournament on home soil.
Gasquet, 22, took advantage of a shaky Nishikori. On one serve, Nishikori did the unimaginable by dropping his racquet (click on picture to see larger version).
"It's hard to play at home, he's only 18 years old," said a sympathetic Gasquet, like Nishikori a former junior star.
"I'm sure he was a little bit nervous. I have three years more experience than him."
Gasquet said he sees a bright future for Nishikori, who will likely land in the upper 70s when the rankings are released next week, exceeding his career-best of 81.
"It's his first year on the tour, so it's tough," Gasquet said.
"He won a tournament and made the fourth round of the U.S. Open. If he is not injured, he will be in the top 10. He has a good forehand, a good backhand. There is no reason for him not to go into the top 10."
In the quarterfinals, Gasquet, the losing finalist here last year to Spain's David Ferrer, will face 2003 champion Rainer Schuettler, the 12th-seeded German who squeezed past No. 8 seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (12-14), 6-4.
As expected, Argentina nominates a fast indoor arena to host the Davis Cup tennis final against Spain to blunt the clay-court dominance of top-ranked Rafael Nadal.
The Argentine tennis association nominated Cordoba's Estadio Orfeo as its first choice for the final, with Mar del Plata's Islas Malvinas stadium as its second option. However, there is a problem.
Argentina's bid to host the Davis Cup final against Spain on indoor carpet will only be accepted if the country's tennis federation selects a venue that meets stringent crowd capacity requirements, International Tennis Federation (ITF) officials said.
And the Cordoba's Orfeo Stadium falls short of the 12,000-seating capacity required by the ITF to host a final.
Argentina have never hosted a Davis Cup tie on any surface except clay, but captain Alberto Mancini had made it clear immediately after their 3-2 semi-final win over Russia that he would prefer to play on carpet.
That is a nod to the talent of Spain's Rafael Nadal, who has 123 of his last 126 matches on clay.
A Cordoba final would also satisfy the wishes of David Nalbandian to play in his home province.
"Cordoba has the best conditions compared with the others," Nalbandian said last week.
"I was born in this province so I would love to play here, but there are a lot of other factors to be considered and we are working to choose the right option."
Argentina are hosting the Davis Cup final for the first time.
They finished as runners-up in the tournament in 1981 and 2006, losing 3-1 to the United States and 3-2 to Russia respectively.
(Via The Canadian Press, sportinglife.com, Image via Davis Cup official website)
Many tennis fans are excited about the return of Joachim Johansson, who is most affectionately known as Pim-Pim.
