Johansson is unlikely Aussie champ

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Maybe this was fitting. In a tournament that set records for early exits by top stars, Thomas Johansson wound up as one unlikely Grand Slam champion.

The 26-year-old Swede was supposed to be a bit player at the Australian Open. Instead, he walks away with the title.

Johansson, seeded 16th, beat the more established Marat Safin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) Sunday in a final lasting nearly 3 hours.

"These have been the best two weeks of my life," he said. "Today was a dream come true. It was unbelievable. I don't have the words to say how happy I am."

How unexpected was Johansson's triumph?

In 24 previous Grand Slam tournaments, he never had advanced beyond the quarterfinals (1998, 2000 U.S. Opens).

He came into the Australian Open with a total of six career titles since turning pro in 1994.

In his final warmup event before the Australian Open, at Sydney, Johansson lost in the first round to Julien Boutter, who's not even ranked in the top 50.

Not as many surprises

The women offered far fewer surprises, with defending champion and No. 1 Jennifer Capriati meeting Martina Hingis in the final for the second straight year.

Capriati rebounded from 0-4 in the second set, saved a record four match points and then saw Hingis wilt in the 95-degree heat of the final set. Capriati won 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 Saturday.

She now has won three of the last five Grand Slams tournaments. Hingis, meanwhile, has lost three straight Australian finals after winning three titles in a row. She has not won a major since the 1999 Australian Open.

Johansson made a point last week of acknowledging that he's not the most dynamic personality in the game.

"Look at me, I'm not that interesting," he after his quarterfinal win over countryman Jonas Bjorkman. "If you color your hair red and you act a little bit different, then you're interesting."

Johansson finished 2001 ranked 18th -- making him Sweden's top player -- after winning two tournaments. Still, he knew he wasn't about to draw crowds.

"I'm playing tennis pretty good," he said. "But as a person I'm not really fancy."

And so, all in all, Johansson was an all-too-appropriate champion of the 2002 Australian Open.

This was a tournament in which the top five seeded men were eliminated halfway through the second round, something that had never happened before at a Grand Slam event.

Johansson faced only two seeded players -- No. 21 Younes El Aynaoui and No. 26 Jiri Novak -- on his way to the final.