WINNING RAISES JOHNSON’S PROFILE
American, ranked No. 22, has one title, Rio bronze in 2016
Steve Johnson doesn’t want you to know his name. The only problem: He keeps winning tennis matches.
Earlier this summer, the 26year-old two-time NCAA champion at Southern California became the top-ranked American man when he reached a career high of No. 21 in the world. He won a bronze medal in men’s doubles in the Rio Olympics with Jack Sock, and he was points away from defeating eventual champion Andy Murray in the singles quarterfinals.
“I’m not the kind of guy that walks around to get noticed,” Johnson, the No. 19 seed in the U.S. Open, told USA TODAY Sports in an interview. “I’m someone who would rather talk about anything else than my accomplishments, that’s all.”
The accomplishments are many in 2016, however: He was just the 14th man to be the topranked American since rankings began in 1973; he won his first ATP World Tour title in Notting- ham, England, in June; he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon; he notched top-10 wins against Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and — don’t forget — then came Rio.
Johnson forgot, however, on the Saturday before the Open began to bring his freshly earned bronze medal with him when he threw out the first pitch at a New York Mets game. Meanwhile, Bethanie Mattek-Sands had her gold medal from mixed doubles snug around her neck.
But while Johnson has been shying away from the spotlight, he’s been earning more of it this year, including a career-first Masters 1000 quarterfinal two weeks ago in Cincinnati.
“Can he get to the top 10? Yeah, why not,” said Mary Joe Fernandez, an ESPN commentator and one of the U.S. Olympic coaches in Rio. “If he has these consistent results week in and week out like he just did in Cincinnati, there’s no reason why not. Because he plays to his strengths really, really well.”
Johnson does not strike an imposing figure. He is 6-2 and 190 pounds but is not necessarily broad-shouldered or overtly muscular. His game is built around a rocket forehand that is accompanied by a steady, deep and sometimes confounding one-handed backhand slice.
Stevie J, as most American tennis players and coaches call him, plays a game like few others in men’s tennis.
“He’s come of age at 26 years old,” said Cliff Drysdale, Fernandez’s ESPN colleague. “I look forward to seeing him continue to progress.”
Tuesday evening he came of age even more in the U.S. Open when, after trailing Russian Evgeny Donskoy by two sets to love and 2-5, love-40 in the third, he rallied to save six match points and win in five sets.
He gets another stern test Thursday: 2009 U.S. Open champion and Rio silver medalist Juan Martin del Potro, who is in resurgent form.
Although Johnson is 22-8 in his last 30 outings, there was a stretch this season in which he lost four of 16 matches and found himself focusing too much on the results in front of him.
“I was putting too much pressure on myself,” Johnson said of the first half of the season. “When you get too results-oriented, things can get sideways. If I don’t win a match, I have to learn from it. That’s taken me to where I am now, so I’m happy with that.”
But what happens if he continues to climb? Into the top 16, the top 10, perhaps even the top five?
“Nothing changes for me,” he said. “I’m a pretty casual guy. I’m going to walk around and hopefully fly under the radar as much as I can. That’s how I want to be. I love playing on the big stadiums, don’t get me wrong, but I just deflect the spotlight away from me. Everyone has their own story.”