Johansson made a stunning return from injury, hammering home a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) upset win over Rafael Nadal in a Stockholm Open shock.
STOCKHOLM: Swede Joachim Johansson made a stunning return to top tennis after a year of injury, hammering home a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) upset win over Rafael Nadal in a Stockholm Open shock.
The 24-year-old "Jackhammer," his ranking languishing at 690 after shoulder surgery in summer, 2005, and subsequent elbow problems, rained down 17 aces against the Spanish world No 2, following up his bombs with charging attacks on the net on Wednesday.
He reached his first quarter-final since Marseille in February of last year.
Johansson advanced as Nadal slammed a service return into the net to lose after one hour, 51 minutes.
"I played a decent match, but he attacked in the right moments. The crowd was not a factor, but his serve was. It's never easy coming from injury," said Nadal
"He played very aggressive in the important moments. He had a lot of confidence and no pressure."
Johansson last competed on the ATP in San Jose in February, losing in the first round. His last events were in the Swedish Futures series last month.
Nadal, the top seed and Stockholm debutant, found himself on the back foot from the start as his opponent served notice with four aces in his opening service game.
The Swede kept up the fierce pressure, breaking for 2-1 in the opening set and claiming the opener on his third opportunity when an off-balance Nadal netted.
The momentum stayed with the challenger in the second set, Johansson breaking to start but losing it for 2-all.
Nadal paid the price as he played on the ATP for the first time since the US Open quarter-finals.
Earlier holder James Blake thrashed two time champion Thomas Johannson 6-3, 6-2.
The second-seeded American won his tenth ATP match in his last 11 outings since the start of the US Open as he claimed a first-round win over the 31-year-old Swede in 59 minutes.
Blake, who came to Europe after lifting his fourth trophy of the season ten days ago in Bangkok over Ivan Ljubicic, fired six aces and broke Johansson three times.
The local had lifted the title at Kungligahallen in 2000 and 2004.
Blake is in the thick in the chase for a Masters Cup season-ending spot, standing sixth for the eight-man field in Shanghai.
Johansson has struggled, producing a record of 6-15 with half of his wins coming at the Australian Open. A freak eye injury caused by a tennis ball in February kept him off court until May.
Blake next plays Thursday against Olivier Rochus, who put out last year's losing finalist Paradorn Srichaphan.
Paradorn, Asia's top player and the 2002 champion, went down 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 to Rochus, one of the shortest men in the game at 1.65 metres.
The compact power-hitter cut the Thai down to size as Paradorn double-faulted to hand over three match points. One was enough, with Rochus advancing to the quarter-finals from a forehand winner.
"I had a lot of ups and downs today, he should have served it out at 5-4 in the second set. But I stayed in the match and didn't give up," said Paradorn.
"I'm happy I gave my best, but it wasn't good enough. Still, this can't be considered as a bad loss."
Compatriot Kristof Vliegen, seeded seventh, also reached the last eight with a win over young Canadian Frank Dancevic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Paradorn, occasionally adjusting the taping on his right wrist, had been hoping for a better showing after his title four years ago and a losing final in 2005 to James Blake.
Rochus improved to 3-1 over the Asian, with the Belgian now standing 32-17 on the season. He won the second title of his career at Munich in May as he defeated Vliegen.
Paradorn came to Sweden after semi-final showings in two of his past three events in Asia.
Rochus lifted the opening set but fell victim to a Thai fightback as Paradorn finally squared the tight contest on his fifth set point, an ace in the tiebreaker.
Never-say-die Rochus earned a third-set break for 4-2, served out a 5-2 love game and broke Paradorn to gain the victory.
Fifth-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen, a quarter-finalist last week in Tokyo, reached the second round over Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4.
Robin Soderling, the eighth seed, won an all-Swedish contest over veteran Jonas Bjorkman 6-0, 6-2.
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