Long list of absences including Serena Williams and Andy Murray means less-known talent could bring some unwelcome surprises in Melbourne
Hard to believe, isn’t it, but we will soon celebrate the 16th anniversary of a very strange tennis match. In late January 2002 the innocuous, double-fisted Swede Thomas Johansson took down the formidable albeit irascible Marat Safin in four sets to win the Australian Open. My favourite detail from the final is that Johansson almost missed the start: his coach, Magnus Tideman, neglected somehow to order a courtesy car and they had to hail a cab to travel to the stadium. It was, pretty much, the last truly surprising outcome in men’s tennis.
Vague memories of that tournament have come trickling back in the past week or so. Back then, Andre Agassi, the No3 seed and two-times champion, pulled out before the start with a dodgy wrist; Andy Roddick slipped on the “sticky” new Rebound Ace surface and turned his ankle. Lleyton Hewitt – the crowd favourite and world No1 – and the No2 seed, Gustavo Kuerten, lost to rank outsiders in the first round.
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