Australian Open: A look back at players who have caused surprises at the opening Grand slam of the year

Andy Schooler looks back at players who have caused a surprise at the Australian Open in years gone by.

Starting in just the third week of the season, the Australian Open always looks ripe for a surprise or two.

And the event's history has shown us outsiders are more than capable of taking their chance to catch the big guns cold – certainly more so than any of the other Grand Slam tournaments.

Last year was a prime example with 66/1 shot Stan Wawrinka winning the men's title and rank outsider Dominika Cibulkova reaching the women's final.

Here, we take a look at some of those who have made waves at Melbourne Park – and what they've gone on to achieve after bathing in the limelight.

Men

Petr Korda (winner 1998)

Famous for his 'scissors kick' celebration, Korda was seeded sixth at the 1998 tournament but few expected him to win the event. But that's exactly what he did to climb to No 2 in the world, destroying Marcelo Rios in a one-sided final. In the following months the Czech star was often within touching distance of the top spot but he was destined never to hit the summit. His season tailed off and he actually finished 1998 with a losing record. With hindsight that can probably be explained by the fact that he had tested positive for the anabolic steriod nandrolone at Wimbledon that season. When the case was heard the following year, Korda was banned for a year. He would never return to the tour.

Thomas Enqvist (runner-up 1999)

The unseeded Enqvist proved the scourge of the Melbourne Park crowd 16 years ago. In back-to-back matches, the Swede first took out reigning US Open champion Pat Rafter and then Mark Philippoussis, another of the great home hopes that year. Two further wins followed to put a player ranked outside the world's top 20 in the final. Enqvist took the first set against Yevgeny Kafelnikov but inexplicably dropped the second 6-0 and the Russian had his opening. Kafelnikov went on to win in four sets to end what had been a dream run. Enqvist capitalised on his fine start to the year, pushing on to end it ranked fourth in the world – a career high. However, he was never able to return to a Grand Slam final and retired after the 2005 season.

Thomas Johansson (winner 2002)

Arguably the most remarkable of Grand Slam winners in recent years was Thomas Johansson, the Swede who made the most of a tournament which saw virtually all the major seeds scattered in the first week. Indeed, such was the level of shocks that Tim Henman found himself second favourite for the title come the middle weekend, but he lost out to Johansson's compatriot Jonas Bjorkman in the last 16 – the same round Pete Sampras also bowed out.

Johansson was no mean player – he was seeded 16th after all – but he had started at a three-figure price with the bookies. With his serve firing superbly and the main men falling by the wayside, he duly took his chance. The last piece of the jigsaw came on finals day, or some would say the night before. Opponent Marat Safin was apparently so confident about victory that he enjoyed a night on the town on the eve of the match and paid the price as the fully-focused Johansson was clearly the better player in the final. However, that was as good as it got for 'To-Jo'. Remarkably he failed to win another title in 2002 and actually finished the season with a losing record. In the years that followed he was bothered by a series of injuries and, at the age of 34, decided to call it a day midway through the 2009 campaign.

Marcos Baghdatis (runner-up 2006)

It was not just the unseeded Baghdatis who lit up the tournament eight years ago but also his army of Greek-Cypriot fans. Many packed into the Rod Laver Arena for his matches to roar on – almost literally – their man. Aged just 20 at the time and ranked outside the top 50, Baghdatis didn't disappoint. He took out three of the top seven seeds in Andy Roddick, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian before finally coming up short against Roger Federer in the final, but only after leading by a set and a break. Baghdatis went on to reach the Wimbledon semis later that year but he's yet to return to a Grand Slam final. Many will also remember another Melbourne moment from his career – in 2008 he was involved in a match with Lleyton Hewitt which finished at 4.34am.