The final of the Kroger St. Jude in Memphis takes place between rising Swedish star Joachim Johansson, playing in his first ATP final, and Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer, playing in his 13th.

The final is a repeat of their first round encounter at last week’s Siebel Open in San Jose, where Johansson won 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 before going on to reach the quarterfinals (l. to eventual champion Roddick).

Johansson, the 21-year-old from Lund, Sweden, who spent his childhood in Sodertalje and practiced with 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg as a teenager, has not dropped a set en route to the final this week. The Swede has held serve 44 consecutive games during the tournament, and has only faced four break points. He also leads the tournament in aces (70) and first serve percentage (71).

Johansson reached his first ATP final with victories over Hyung-Taik Lee, No. 6 seed James Blake, Xavier Malisse and No. 2 seed Mardy Fish.
Kiefer, who took part in the longest match of the tournament – 2 hours, 37 minutes against Jurgen Melzer in the second round – also has impressive serving statistics this week. The German has only been broken three times in 49 service games (94 percent) and has fired 43 aces in his four matches so far.

The eighth-seeded German is looking to win his first ATP title since Hong Kong in 2000, and is playing in his first final since Halle last year (l. to Federer). He advanced to his first US final with wins over Eric Taino, Jurgen Melzer, Jan-Michael Gambill and Thomas Enqvist.

The final is only the sixth Memphis final since 1975 not to contain an American (1985, ‘90, ’91, 2000, ’01).

SWEDISH WINNERS IN MEMPHIS
Johansson is attempting to become only the fourth different Swedish winner in Memphis:
- Bjorn Borg 1977 d. Gottfried
- Stefan Edberg 1985 d. Noah
- Stefan Edberg 1987 d Gilbert
- Magnus Larsson 2000 d B. Black

GERMAN WINNERS IN MEMPHIS
Kiefer is attempting to become only the third German to win the Kroger St. Jude:
- Michael Stich 1990 d. Masur
- Tommy Haas 1999 d. Courier

FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

Joachim Johansson (SWE) vs (8)Nicolas Kiefer (GER)
Johansson Leads 1-0
04 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard R32
Joachim Johansson 5-7 7-5 6-2

Johansson FastFacts:
2004 Highlights:
QF: San Jose (l Roddick);
YTD W-L: 9-3
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 1, 1982
INDESIT ATP 2004 Race: 34
INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking: 71

Kiefer FastFacts:
2004 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: July 5, 1977
INDESIT ATP 2004 Race: 101T
INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking: 57
* As of February 16, 2004