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U.S. OPEN

August 27, 2014

Steve Johnson

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

T. ITO/S. Johnson
6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 4-1 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What hurts more, your body physically or the fact that you had to retire from that match?
STEVE JOHNSON: The fact I had to retire. To be in a position like that, I didn't really feel anything coming. It was really kind of a bizarre thing. I wish I could have played through it. I tried, but it didn't look very good. You know, it sucks at the end of the day.

Q. It looked painful. Have you ever felt like that before?
STEVE JOHNSON: I mean, I've cramped before, but usually I'm not a guy that cramps in matches. You know, if I start feeling something, I have plenty of time to try and stop it, drink enough. But today it came out of nowhere. I didn't feel it at all. I guess I landed awkwardly after I hit an overhit, 1-0, Love-15. Fell awkward on my left ankle, which feels okay. The next point, my right calf just went just kind of out of nowhere. Then it all kind of started to go.

Q. Did you get IV fluids?
STEVE JOHNSON: No. I mean, I'll be okay. It sucks. It's not the end of the world, but it feels like it right now.

Q. Did it spread anywhere else?
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, yeah. I was trying to serve. I don't know what it was at that point, 2-1. Both of my quads were cramping. My hand was cramping. I couldn't hold the racquet. That was kind of a determining factor to not play anymore. I couldn't physically hold the racquet action every time I closed my hand it would just start cramping.

Q. You didn't go off in a wheelchair.
STEVE JOHNSON: No.

Q. Why was that?
STEVE JOHNSON: You retire, you retire. I mean, that's the first time I've ever retired in a match. I'm not going to leave in a wheelchair, so...

Q. How quickly did it calm down? Did they just give you lots of fluids?
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, I just started drinking. I still feel pretty terrible now. It's pretty tight. I feel like if I make a couple sharp movements, maybe it will come back. I wish maybe I could have done something differently out there, or maybe just taken the game penalties for a couple and maybe it would have gone away. When they were working on me the second time it just felt like both of my legs were locked up. When that happens, nothing good's going to come of it. I've cramped before, and that's what it started to feel like. That's what ended up happening.

Q. Did they recommend to you what you do over the next couple days? Just drink?
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, you know, just drink. You'll be sore any time your body takes that kind of -- you know, with the cramping it's going to be sore the next day. I guess we have dubs tomorrow. Go out there and see how it goes. Hopefully Sammy can get a win in singles first and we'll go from there.

Q. It felt hot on the grounds. Did it seem especially warm during the match?
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, it was hot. On 17 with no shade anywhere, it felt pretty hot out there. I felt fine. I don't know how long we were out there, 2 hours and 45 minutes or something like that into the match. I've played matches four and a half hours in Australia. It's kind of frustrating. I mean, it was definitely hot, but I really wish, you know, things would have gone differently.

Q. What was the sensation when you tried to play through it and he was serving?
STEVE JOHNSON: It sucked. That's the first time I felt pretty useless on the tennis court. I'm a competitive guy. I'll lay it on the line as much as I can. I really would not have liked to retire from that match, but physically I just couldn't walk. I mean, if I could have walked I would still be out there. I would have competed. I mean, it's a tough one to swallow for me because I'm just so competitive.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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