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ROLAND GARROS

May 24, 2015

Steve Johnson

PARIS, FRANCE

S. JOHNSON/G. Garcia-Lopez
6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3
An interview with:
STEVE JOHNSON

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Third set tiebreaker; 7 to 1.
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, wasn't close.

Q. Lose the fourth set.
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah.

Q. Describe your frame of mind.
STEVE JOHNSON: You know, I wasn't like I guess panicking. I was up two sets. I played a good end of the third. He kind of buckled down and played some great defense in the last three sets. Felt like it was tough for me to hit a winner. He played great defense. He's very comfortable on clay; he's very comfortable out there. I don't think at any moment, even down two sets, he thought it was far from over. Just fortunate - you know, I was down a break in the fifth - just to kind of compose myself. Played a great game to break back, a long game, and I think that swung the momentum a little bit in my favor.

Q. Looked like towards the end of the fourth set, maybe beginning of the fifth, you started to get pretty frustrated. Just barking at your box; kind of exasperated.
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah.

Q. Mentally how did you regroup? At that point looked like it might slip.
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, it's one of those things where I think maybe a couple years ago when I was new on the tour or whatever it's something I feel like could have got away from me really fast. You know, in the fifth set, 1-0, he holds, and maybe you get broken again. The ball gets rolling a little too fast in the wrong direction. I just drew from experience and buckled down. He's still got to hold five more times to get through the end of the match. Fortunately I got the break right back and steadied, righted the ship a little bit and was fortunate enough to play some great tennis at the end.

Q. You said you drew from experience. Was there a particular match that stands out or stood out to you?
STEVE JOHNSON: I've had a bunch of tough five-set losses. A couple years ago here I played Montanes. He won the first, I won the second, he won the third, I won the fourth. You kind of get this emotion where you're on this high, like you're ready to go, ready to go. It's just another match. It's just another set. I've played a lot of tennis in my life, and I felt comfortable out there today in the fifth just to play regular tennis. You know, I didn't need to raise my game to another level to win this one. So that kind of mentality. So I just buckled down and played the way I needed to play. You know, drew back from all those five-set losses. Had a five-set win here last year in the first round. So just another day at the office to take care of business and win three sets.

Q. There was a call in there right before things started to go south for you a little bit.
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah.

Q. Talk me through that, why you think it wasn't the right call.
STEVE JOHNSON: I am still --look, I've played clay pretty sparingly throughout my life, and I don't play on it that much throughout the year. I felt like maybe I hit a forehand; he missed the shot; I felt like he played it, you know, and then he was like, okay, let me look at the mark. Then he looked at the mark. It was it wide. You can't argue that it was wide. But I felt like he played the shot, missed it, and then was like, Oh, let me take a look. Maybe it was out. So I feel like the umpire missed that one. It wasn't quite as bang, bang play as he said it was. We make mistakes. I made mistakes and he made mistakes. That's life. I think I ended up getting broken that game, which is my fault. Shouldn't let that bother me. I was able to just move on and take care of business.

Q. Do you think among the American guys in general the confidence has gone up on clay? John has had good success; Jack won a title; Frances is saying that it's his favorite surface. Is there a new belief that you guys can compete at a higher level?
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think it's just a mindset really. Maybe back in the day after the Agassi kind of Chang, those guys' era who won here, there was maybe a bit of negativity. I don't want to say that in a negative way to guys like James and Andy and Mardy. Those guys held the torch for American tennis and did more than anyone else really has, in my era at least. I think there was maybe a negative tone to coming here or being on clay in general. So it's nice to have John do well because he's the leader of our pack right now. If he does well, you know, we all believe we can do well I feel like. It's one of those things where you see your buddy win and you're going to feel the same confidence. I think I was the only American to play today, to win. Maybe tomorrow the Americans will come out guns blazing and go out and take care of business. Just one of those things that confidence kind of breeds more confidence, and winning, just amongst the group, is always beneficial.

Q. How comfortable do you feel on clay if you were to rate it?
STEVE JOHNSON: I would say it's my third favorite surface of the year. I played on hard court my whole life. Feel like my game suits well for grass. Maybe haven't had the success at Wimbledon as I would like, but that's going to change I hope one day. I feel like I'm getting more comfortable. It's funny, because I've had literally the last three years -- all three years I've played on the tour full time it's like once clay season comes I've struggled. Like two years ago in the challengers in the States it was like winning games, and then Bordeaux two years ago I won three games; I got killed. Then like I get to Roland Garros to play quallies two years ago and the ball kind of starts to roll and you figure it out. It's a learning process. Every year I've felt like I've gotten here and everything has just started to click. I've had some rough practice days, matches, you name it, for the last two months. Now it's like, Okay, everything I worked on, my coach and I, it happened today. It felt good. So it's like one of those things where you get more comfortable the more time you play on it. You're going to get here, and I don't know what it is about here, but it's a pretty special place to play. I just felt like the clay court game for me has clicked, which is good timing.

Q. Federer had a security breach on center court today.
STEVE JOHNSON: Yeah.

Q. Turned out okay, but could be serious. From your perspective, how is this tournament on the outside courts? Do you sense any change or difference compared to other places?
STEVE JOHNSON: No. Maybe I'm just not in that position to have people run on the court and -- not too concerned for my safety, to be honest. But it's one of those things where I think maybe they have got to tighten the screws a little bit. It's happened here in the past a couple times maybe to Roger. Clearly didn't affect him today. Took care of business as usual. Just one of those things. You kind of see it all over sports, professional sports. Baseball you got guys streaking on the field. Just one of those things. You can't let it affect you. I mean, it does, but as much as you can you got to move on and be kind of fortunate enough that nothing seriously happened.

Q. Tomorrow Tiafoe will make his debut. Have you hit with him or watched him play?
STEVE JOHNSON: I've seen him a couple times in the last few weeks. He was in Nice and I hit with him here. He's talented. He's very talented. He's hard working, which is what you would like to see. You kind of see maybe sometimes the good juniors are a little lazy. A little kind of like, I'm talented; it's fine; it's no big deal. But he puts in the work. I've seen him out on the practice courts and in the gym, which is great. If tomorrow doesn't go his way, it's not going to be his last Grand Slam, I'll tell that you much. He's a great tennis player and a good kid. He's going to mistake those junior mistakes. He's going to do it. That's life. You're going to learn. I saw that happen in Nice last week. He kind of made a couple junior mistakes just demeanor-wise on court in the last round of quallies. It's like, that's not going to fly out here. You got to take care of business. This is sport. This is your profession. This is what you want to do. Still have fun. Then he turned it around and got in his lucky loser and battled hard. He played James, who's a great tennis player. He learned from what he did wrong two days before that and he changed. He's willing to learn and change, and I think he's going to have a very successful career ahead of him. I just can't wait to watch it and help any way I can.

Q. On a side topic, what's the worst travel experience you've had on the tour?
STEVE JOHNSON: I mean, there are a lot of them. You travel every week. Something is bound to go wrong. You know, couple years ago I was in Orleans coming from Ismir. I think I lost in the semis of Ismir on like Saturday, flew to France Sunday, and for some reason I packed like -- I just had too many clothes. So I put it in my tennis bag, just one or two outfits. I don't know why. I got to France and my bag didn't come until -- I left at 4:00 in the morning, and it came at 3:00 in the morning the day before I was supposed to leave. I was the whole week with like two pair of clothes. So that was kind of a bummer. I was like dry cleaning every night in the hotel. There are always ones when you're flying. Not an avid fan of flying, but part of occupation. Just once for me we were going into land and you can see the ground. You're pretty close, and all of a sudden you're taking off again. That's never exciting. You're like another 20 minutes of my life I got to stay in the air. I was so close to the ground. I'm fortunate I've never had anything seriously go wrong or happen. Knock on wood. It's just part of the occupation. You have to deal with it. It's not enjoyable, but when you get to the place it's enjoyable. It's not quite as glamourous as maybe the top guys make it look, but that's what we're all working for.

Q. Compared to last year, did you notice any difference in the courts or the way the balls are playing this year?
STEVE JOHNSON: No. I felt like the balls here are pretty consistent. They're good balls, good clay court balls. I think it really depends on the weather, to be honest. It could change drastically from day to day and really hour to hour. Last year it was kind of rainy one day and next day was hot. So it plays completely different. The court plays night and day when it's sunny and really cold and damp out. So just kind of have to adjust. That's why a lot of us play tennis. We love to problem solve and adjust to what the obstacle is that day.
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