American Steve Johnson making strides ahead of Olympics

WASHINGTON — American Steve Johnson was trailing 10th-ranked Richard Gasquet 4-0 in the first set of a match in June at the Aegon Championships in London. Johnson had never beaten a top-10 player, and there was little reason to think a breakthrough would come on this day.

“(Trailing Gasquet) felt like the world was crashing down,” Johnson said.

Following a rain delay, though, Johnson clawed his way back to win the first set in a tiebreaker and then finish off the match at 6-2. The victory altered the course of Johnson's year.

“All it takes is a good 5-10 minutes I feel like,” Johnson said. “Little things like that can change your season just like that.”

Johnson opened 2016 with a 6-14 record. Since then, the 26-year-old has been playing the best tennis of his career. He won his first ATP tour title in Nottingham, gave Roger Federer a battle in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and following a 11-3 record in that stretch is ranked a career-best No. 25.

He took his hot streak to Rock Creek Park in Washington for the Citi Open this weekend, where he picked up three more victories before falling to power-hitting Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals on Saturday.

Though his run for a second title was thwarted, Johnson beat top-seeded John Isner to reach the semifinals. A year ago, Johnson lost to Isner in the semifinals but this time managed to beat the only American player ranked in front him.

With the win, Johnson should close the gap in the world rankings between him and his Isner, who is No. 16.

“I’ll probably wait some time to joke about it with (Isner) after yesterday,” Johnson said. “He’s held the top spot for the past four or five years, he’s somebody we all look up to.”

Viewed for many years as trailing countries such as France or Spain, the United States now has four players in the top 30 in the ATP world rankings, with all of them reaching for the quarterfinals at the Citi Open. Perhaps American tennis is finally gaining ground.

But like catching Isner in the rankings, Johnson typically doesn’t care how the media and fans portray the state of the sport in U.S. In fact, he believes it’s been strong for awhile now, but also that this is just the beginning for him and the rest of the Americans.

“The media has bashed us pretty hard for the last few years and I think it’s unfair, but we knew we are all capable of this,” Johnson said. “We know top 25 for us is not the end goal. We want to keep getting better and better and keep pushing on.”

It’s a good thing, too, because Johnson will be joining the rest of Team USA when it goes to Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Olympics next month. Trying to treat it like “any other tournament,” Johnson will prepare las he always does, but recognizes there’s more at stake.

“I’m going to really enjoy the experience and go out there and fight my hardest,” Johnson said of the Olympics. “(I’m going to) give my heart and soul out there. At the end of the week, you start getting in these conversations of potentially medaling, but it’s going to take four or five good matches to get there.”

With the way he’s been playing, don’t be surprised if Johnson does, in fact, “get there.”