Johnson pays tribute to dad after victory
DELRAY BEACH — The celebration is always the same for Steve Johnson.
After each victory on the tennis court, he points toward the sky. It is a tribute to his father and coach, Steve Sr., who died last May.
“It always will be and it always has been,” Johnson said of the post-win gesture.
The tribute was on display Friday after he defeated Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-1-6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open. Johnson will play Germany’s Peter Gojowczyktoday in the semifinals. Denis Shapovalov, of Canada, will play either American Frances Tiafoe or South Korea’s Chung Hyeon on the other side of the bracket.
“Hopefully, just have another good day [Saturday],” Johnson said. “If nothing else, I’ve built some momentum going into 2018 for this week. It’s better in February than March, I guess. Obviously you want to get off to a better start in January. That’s life, it’s a long year. You’ve just got to keep your head up.”
Johnson admits he still struggles with the passing of his father, who was well known in the tennis circuit. Steve Johnson Sr. died in his sleep May 11, 2017. He was 58.
Johnson learned the news while competing in the French Open. He broke down during his first post-match interview and continues to have a hard time with his father’s death.
“Every day is different,” Johnson said. “Some good, some bad, some not so good. I don’t know, it’s hard to put into words. Every day is up and down.”
Before this week, Johnson only had one victory in 2018. It may be a sign he is getting better at controlling his emotions since his father’s death. It was the first time he faced Donskoy since the 2016 U.S. Open.
Johnson won that meeting with the help of six saved match points. It wasn’t as difficult this time.
“I wasn’t expecting him to roll over, but I had a tough, early game,” Johnson said. “I got out of it. I think that maybe broke his spirits for a bit. I was able to rattle off five games in the first. I got a break in the second. I had a couple good looks in the second set to get a second break. My match point I had a great forehand.”
Facing Johnson will be a welcome change for Gojowczyk. He defeated 6-foot-11 Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 6-3 in the quarterfinals, a day after topping 6-10 John Isner.
So facing the 6-2 Johnson should provide at least some relief.
“It’s a totally different match than the last two matches because I played some huge service guys,” Gojowczyk said. “It’s an open match. [Johnson] played well. [Against] smaller players you have to play more from the baseline.”
Gojowczyk spoiled what would have been an interesting all American semifinal between Johnson and Opelka, who are close friends. Before the match, Johnson jokingly said he wouldn’t allow Opelka to sleep over his house any more if he lost.
The matchup never materialized because Opelka lost focus after dropping a tough first set against Gojowczyk.
“He’s got my number,” Opelka said. “He’s got me, that’s it. It’s pretty simple. He’s a great player. I knew I had my hands full … That match was pretty similar to the previous two.”
Still, Opelka left the tournament impressed with his performance that included a victory against top-seeded Jack Sock.
“Obviously, I had a really rough end of the year last year,” Opelka said. In the last six months, I lost a ton of matches. Not from a results standpoint, just from a tennis standpoint, I’ve improved so much. I could have easily lost those two tiebreakers against [Ryan] Harrison in the first round and I wouldn’t even be here.”