But now nearly two years have gone by and the Swede has still to live up to the instant status he gained after overcoming the odds to beat Russian Marat Safin in that Australian Open final.

"I proved to myself that when I play my best tennis I can fight with the best," Johansson told Reuters in an interview.

The win in Melbourne was only his seventh career title and he has not won another tournament since.

Johansson missed all of 2003 due to a severe knee injury but has recovered and is now aiming for a comeback on the ATP tour in January, either in Doha or in Adelaide.

"I'll be starting from zero...With the exception of the eight tournaments that I'll be able to enter with a protected ranking (23rd), I'll have to hope for a wild card (into the main draw) or a wild card for the qualifying rounds," he said.

"I never got a decent chance to prove myself last year because the injury came so early," said Johansson, who played his last ATP tour match in November 2002 in the Masters Cup.

The 28-year-old Swede, who has postponed his comeback more than once after undergoing surgery in February, admitted he had considered retirement.

His prize purse since he turned professional in 1994 stands at $4.4 million (2.54 million pounds).

"Of course there have been days when I've wondered what I'm doing -- Should I retire? Do I have the strength to invest all the time needed to get back? -- but at the same time I think I've stayed pretty positive."

"They set an approximate date for when I was supposed to be back and the talk went that it would be in time for the Swedish Open (in July) but that turned out to be nowhere near. That's when you get a little depressed, when specialists have said 'another two months and it will be okay'," said Johansson.