Jo Jo, To Jo ( the Johansson) and Swedish tennis

[reese]

PIM PIM is back!! wohooo

[marats]

Absolutely great !

[ornthree]

PimPim!!!! Vamos!!

[marats]

His first match ?

[alsl]

He lost to some qualifier..

[reese]

"Sweden's Joachim Johansson, the 2004 Memphis champion, made it to The Racquet Club Friday, but only to announce his withdrawal and to graciously help with the draw. Johansson is coming off two surgeries (shoulder, elbow) last year and felt he needed more time to rehabilitate after playing earlier this week in San Jose, his first tour match in more than six months.
Johansson said he would return to Europe to continue his rehab. He had elbow surgery in December. "

''I want to be on top of my game for the grasscourt season,'' he said.

Found it on MTF board! He will to 99% withdraw also from Indian Wells & Miami, because he needs some more time to recover.
Get well soon Pim Pim

[Annie]

wise decision Pim Pim Glad you're taking up Marat's strategy!!! Can't wait for him to get back

[ornthree]

get back sooon!!

[lau]

I changed the thread title to include Thomas...
Unfortunately, as the first news posted here, this is not a good news at all neither....

Thomas Johansson out for four months with eye injury

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Swede Thomas Johansson will be sidelined for four months after injuring his eye during a training session on Thursday.

Johansson, the world number 13, was preparing for Friday's doubles quarter-final at the Rotterdam World tournament with his playing partner Mario Ancic when a ball hit him in the eye.

The 2002 Australian Open winner had to have surgery at the Dijkzigt hospital in Rotterdam to repair a detached retina.

Tournament doctor Babette Pluim said Johansson would be out of action for four months and cannot fly for three weeks.

The fourth seeded Swede had already lost in the first round of the men's singles to Briton Tim Henman on Wednesday.

[Annie]

Oh Noooooooooooo poor Thomas!!!!!! Get well soon!!!!!!!

[alsl]

That's happened to me heaps of times..mario must have smacked it hard..SURGERY!!!!!!..

hope he comes back soon..i love his backhand..

[SAFINNO1]

Hard to believe this man beat Marat at Marat's last USO

Enqvist decides to call it quits

Thomas Enqvist made his profession debut in 1989
Former Australian Open finalist and world number four Thomas Enqvist has announced his retirement.
The 32-year-old Swede said he was unable to continue because of the physical strains of playing.

"It feels sad but unfortunately my body can't take top-level competition anymore," he said.

Enqvist won 19 ATP tour titles in a career spanning 17 years. He reached the final in Melbourne in 1999 and helped Sweden win the Davis Cup.

He recently dropped out of the world's top 100 for the first time in over 10 years and admitted injuries had taken their toll.

"I have had a total of six operations, and of course there have been difficult setbacks, but at the same time I have had a very long career despite the injuries."

Currently ranked 224th in the world, Enqvist said it was the right time to leave the sport.

"My driving force has been the feeling of being able to win tournaments, and since my body no longer has what it takes, there was no choice."

[Annie]

*sigh* as sad as it makes me feel, but I think it's time to start moving on in life for him... all this injury business is not doing any good and life still goes on ;D Wish him the best of luck ;D

[safinette]

Hi! I've been searching for news about Joachim but still nothing... anybody know something new?

[safinette]

Ok, I've just found this:

Commitments coming fast for tennis tournament

The answer from Pilot Pen Tennis tournament headquarters is a resounding yes, or oui if you wish.
In the second year of having a combined men's and women's tennis event, Pilot Pen tournament director Anne Worcester was unsure what to expect when she received the list of men's direct entries into the New Haven-based tournament.
She most certainly wasn't expecting eight commitments from the 12 French players ranked in the top 100.
"I was surprised to see there were eight French players in the top 65 (of the ATP rankings)," Worcester said. "I didn't even know there were that many top (French) players."
While veterans Arnaud Clement and Fabrice Santoro have peaked at No. 10 and 17, respectively, in the rankings, the Frenchman whose pledge to play in the Aug. 18-26 event tickled Worcester the most was flamboyant 20-year-old Richard Gasquet.
The 2005 season was a breakout one for Gasquet. Ranked 109th in the 2004 year-end rankings, Gasquet finished 2005 ranked 16th.
"He is one of the rising stars on the ATP tour," Worcester said. "He won Nottingham (in 2005 and 2006) and was one of four players to beat (world No. 1 Roger) Federer (in 2005)."
While Gasquet is touted as a future top 10 players, the 2006 Pilot Pen will feature two current top 10 men's players.
Sixth-ranked and defending champion James Blake was the first player to commit four months ago.
He was joined in the field this week by No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko. Add in commitments by No. 13 Jarkko Nieminen, No. 18 David Ferrer, No. 24 Fernando Verdasco, No. 25 Olivier Rochus and Joachim Johansson, a former top 10 player who hasn't played since February because of a shoulder injury, and the Pilot Pen has the makings of a solid field.
"We have three storylines here," Worcester said. "We have a number of rising stars, players having hot summers in the field, and people who are household names."
The field includes nine players who have broken into the top 10 of the ATP rankings, led by Jonas Bjorkman and Greg Rusedski, both of whom peaked at No. 4 in the rankings in 1997. Ex-top 10ers Clement, David Ferrer, Johansson, Nicolas Massu and Paradorn Srichaphan add depth to the field.
The tournament also welcomed back 2005 finalist Feliciano Lopez, who extended Blake to three sets in the 2005 Pilot Pen final. Ferrer, a 2005 Pilot Pen semifinalist, and Verdasco and Juan Ignacio Chela, both of whom reached the quarterfinals in New Haven, will also be returning.
While the eight Frenchmen, six Spaniards and four players from Italy give the field an international flavor, Blake is the only American among the 38 players who gained direct acceptance into the main draw.
However, with four available wild cards, expect to see some more Americans in the field by mid-August.
Mardy Fish, a neighbor of Blake in Tampa, Fla., trails only Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on the next-in list, meaning that Fish would earn a spot in the main draw if at least two players withdraw. If that didn't happen, Fish would seem a likely choice for a wild card.
Veteran American Vince Spadea would be another player who would be a strong candidate for a wild card.
The two biggest omissions from the list appear to be Spain's Tommy Robredo and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, both of whom had strong showings in the 2005 Pilot Pen.
"At Miami, Robredo said no, he wasn't playing (in New Haven), but then at Wimbledon he decided to change his schedule, and I left Wimbledon thinking we had him," Worcester said. "I was surprised Gonzalez didn't enter. I don't know what happened."
Worcester will keep tabs on top Americans like Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and Robby Ginepri for potential wild cards.
She will also monitor the results from the North American summer hard-court season, and if any top 10 or 20 players start suffering early losses, she will be glad to offer the opportunity to give them matches at the Pilot Pen.

©Windsor Locks Journal 2006