Johansson ousts Bjorkman as Novak Czechs into semis
Swede Jonas Bjorkman, the man who ended Britain's Tim Henman's Australian Open dream, has been knocked out by compatriot Thomas Johansson.
Bjorkman could not repeat the astonishing tennis he produced against Henman in the fourth round, despite the vocal support offered to him by the majority of the crowd in the Rod Laver Arena, and fell 6-0, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-final.
Johansson, who will play Jiri Novak in the semi-finals, triumphed in a nervy 48-minute final set after breaking Bjorkman to take a 5-4 lead before serving out the match.
"It was very, very difficult," Johansson said. "I was so nervous. I was really shaky, especially after he went 30-15 up on my serve.
"The next point was a very, very funny point, but I was glad to serve it out."
Johansson breezed through the first set, winning it 6-0 in just 25 minutes.
"I was expecting it to be very tough because Jonas is such a good friend of mine and we spend a lot of time together," said Johansson.
"In the first set I was playing my best tennis ever. Then I went up 40-love in the first game of the second set and then I served three double faults in a row.
"Jonas started to play very, very well."
So well, in fact, that he won that second set 6-2 to level the match.
"I think in the third and the fourth I was serving a lot better. The third was very tough and I was just hanging on," Johansson admitted.
"He is probably the best returner of serve on tour and if you miss your first serve he always comes in on the second and you can get very stressed."
Later on centre court, the number 27 seed Jiri Novak cruised into his first grand slam semi-final, blasting Stefan Koubek off the court 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in only 85 minutes.
"I still can't believe this is happening today. It is just an unbelievable feeling," Novak said. "I think that I was playing so well today.
"I know Stefan very well and it was a very hard match for me mentally," he added. "It was the first time on the centre court for me in a quarter-final and I was very nervous."
Koubek had come back from two sets down in his first and second round matches but finally ran out of steam on the Rod Laver Arena centre court.
Novak, the first Czech semi-finalist at a grand slam since Petr Korda won in Melbourne in 1998, is looking forward to facing Johansson for a place in Sunday's final.
"I have got nothing to lose now," he said. "He is ranked higher than me and beat me the last time we played - but I am looking forward to playing him."