Johnson defends Clay Court crown
Steve Johnson shrugged off numerous missed opportunities to beat first-time ATP Tour finalist Tennys Sandgren 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4 on Sunday in Houston to become the first player to successfully defend the U.S. Men’s Clay Court title in 16 years.
The 28-year-old Johnson, from Palos Verdes, won only two of the 14 break points he had against Sandgren’s serve, but still managed to secure his third ATP title.
“I could have taken more advantage of all those break points,” Johnson said. “I didn’t play the way I would have liked to play and then he started to play good at the end of the second set. In the third set I was just hanging on at the beginning and trying to fight off his momentum. A final is not like any other match, but you try to trick yourself into thinking it is. That’s what the top guys do so well.”
No player had repeated in the only men’s clay-court tournament in the U.S. since Andy Roddick in 2002.
Johnson will marry longtime girlfriend Kendall Bateman on Saturday night in Redondo Beach. Fellow pros Sam Querrey, John Isner and Dennis Kudla will serve as groomsmen.
“Now it’s all wedding stuff,” he said. “I’ll go home, take a few days to relax, go golf a little bit in Palm Springs.”
Second-seeded Elise Mertens won the Samsung Open in Switzerland, beating Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2 . ... Pablo Andujar beat second-seeded Kyle Edmund 6-2, 6-2 to win the Grand Prix Hassan II for a third time.