Why Thomas Johansson almost didn't make it to the Australian Open final in 2002

Heading into the Australian Open in 2002, Swede Thomas Johansson was relatively unknown in tennis despite being in the top 20.

The Swede upset the heavily favored Marat Safin of Russia in the final in four sets, having not played a single top-20 player in the run to his final.

Johansson is one of the most unassuming Grand Slam winners in history, being he only made it to one Grand Slam final in his career.

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What's even more shocking is that Johansson was able to win the final after terrible preparation from his management team in the run-up.

In each of his games in the run-up to the final, Thomas Johansson had a car ready to take him to the courts in Melbourne to ensure he made it to each game.

Marat Safin was already the heavy favorite for the contest, and when he went a set up after a sluggish start by Johansson, everyone thought it was game over, but it wasn't the Swede's fault.

The sluggish start to the contest was due to Johansson's coach not sorting out a courtesy car to take him to the stadium. So, they took to the streets of Melbourne to find a taxi.

According to tennismajors.com, Johansson said: "The car had been on time every single day for three weeks, but that day the car didn't show up. And we were waiting, and we were waiting, then my coach looked at me and said, 'I actually forgot to order a car.'"

"Normally, they don't let taxi cars into the venue, so we came up to the security guy, and my coach said, 'We're actually going to play the final here in a couple of hours, so can you please let us in?'"

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It was obvious that only courtesy cars and other specific cars were allowed into the restricted parts of the stadium, so after a long back and forth between his coach and the security, Johansson was allowed in.

The Swede didn't seem confident that he could emulate his Swedish heroes after his troubled start to the day, admitting he didn't give himself good odds at beating the Russian.

According to bbc.co.uk, the Swede said: "I thought I had a small chance to win. Maybe if he broke his leg or something."

Despite his low confidence and a poor start to the final, Johansson completely controlled the tempo of the remaining sets, keeping Safin where he wanted him.

Johansson used his powerful returns to keep Safin pinned to the baseline and used his trusted double-handed backhand to finish off his points and take the game away from the Russian.

The Swede won the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 to claim his one and only Grand Slam title. As of 2024, he is the last Swedish player to win a Grand Slam.

Johansson would win a doubles silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and reach a Wimbledon Semi-Final in 2005. He retired from professional tennis in 2009.