 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Notebook Champ Johansson survives Safin, cab ridePosted: Sunday January 27, 2002 1:41 PMMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Australian Open winner Thomas Johansson arrived for the final in a taxi because his coach didn't arrange for a courtesy car pickup. "My coach forgot to call a car this morning. So we had to take a taxi," Johansson said. "We were struggling to get into this area. But I'm here, and this has been two great weeks for me. This is a dream come true." Johansson joked that he made his coach, Magnus Tideman, pay the taxi fare.
Venus serves it upSecond-seeded Venus Williams left Melbourne without the Australian Open trophy, but she did produce the fastest serve of the women's tournament.Williams, who lost in the quarterfinals to Monica Seles, had a top effort of 122 mph. Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan was next with a serve of 113 mph, followed by Amelie Mauresmo at 111 mph. Greg Rusedski had the Australian Open's fastest serve, 138 mph. Finalist Marat Safin and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile tied for second at 135 mph.
Swedish supportThomas Johansson's Swedish supporters -- dozens decked out in national colors blue and yellow -- were the center of attention in the stands during the Australian Open final.The fans sang, chanted, clapped and cheered after every point, regardless of whether Johansson won or lost. Among the chants in Swedish were "Gobbe! Gobbe! Gobbe!" (pronounced "Yoh-ba"), meaning, "Work! Work! Work!" Other choruses included the Swedish national anthem and chants of "Everyone who loves Thomas Johansson, clap your hands!" The Swedes also sang "Happy Birthday" to runner-up Marat Safin during the trophy presentation ceremony. Safin turned 22 Sunday.
Junior championsClement Morel of France beat Todd Reid of Australia 6-4, 6-4 for the boys' singles championship. Both are 17. In the girls' final, 15-year-old Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic defeated 14-year-old Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-0, 7-5.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
