06 Mar 2005 - Hall Rh抟us Sport, Strasbourg, France
- Lewis Cumberland - FRA v SWE
Johansson Takes it to the Wire in France
Joachim Johansson has made it 2-2 between France and Sweden by defeating
Sebastien Grosjean 36 61 64 61 in Strasbourg.
After two days of wins and losses, tears and laughs, all was set for
Grosjean to give his team a liberating third point and put his country
through to the quarterfinals of the 2005 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, sending
Sweden to a Play-off tie in the fall.
Both Grosjean and opponent Johansson needed to redeem themselves after their
poor performances on Friday. It was Grosjean who made the first move by
breaking the "Unbreakable" Johansson in the third game. A sufficient
advantage for the Frenchman to win the first set 63. Aside from the 15
unforced errors by "JJ"픠on his forehand, not much could be said of the
set.
In the second set, Johansson started to play more like someone who is
ranked 11th in the world. After serving and holding the first game, the
Swede broke Grosjean and secured his break, moving ahead 3-0 and then 4-0
when Grosjean gave up his service game again. The Swede, now in rhythm, was
making the shots he had been missing in the opening set, while Grosjean did
not raise his level of play. Johansson won the set 61 to level the match at
one set apiece.
Something was clearly off in the game of the Frenchman, and Johansson was
the first to spot it. He immediately broke his opponent in the opening
game of the third set and took a quick 2-0 lead. Then 4-2, and 5-3. The
third set was awarded to Sweden 64 in a contest that for the moment lacked
rhythm, spice and suspense.
In the fourth set, Grosjean proved that he was still unable to elevate his
level of intensity, in spite of a motivated crowd pushing their No. 1 player.
It came as a surprise to no-one when "Pimpim" once again broke his opponent's
serve. A decisive moment when one knows the serving quality of the Swedish
Viking. With a 3-1 advantage, the road was now wide open for the tall,
talented and confident Johansson to run away with the fourth point of the
tie and the second for his team.
So Joachim redeemed himself by levelling the tie at two points all. The
final score of the weekend is now in the hands of local hero Paul-Henri
Mathieu and former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson.
"I'm happy, I was able to win and allow Thomas to go out there and try and
win it all, it's a real relief!" said Johansson.
"Physically, it was difficult for me," said Grosjean. "He was hitting the
ball very hard, and I was late on all the shots. You cannot be late against
Joachim, because once he's ahead, there's no catching up.
--
雨過腥聞血，風旋雪裹身。
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