US OPEN

September 5, 2001

Don Johnson

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

DON JOHNSON: I would be honored and proud to be on the team. I think it would be a culmination of many long years of practice and hard work. Of course, I wouldn't be there without Jared.

DON JOHNSON: Yea, he saw me lose my serve at 5-4 in the first set in the mixed doubles. He said, "I'm out of here."

DON JOHNSON: We lost.

DON JOHNSON: Yeah, like you said, it was very exciting. We got off to a very good start. We broke Max Mirnyi twice in the match.

DON JOHNSON: Which is pretty good. Heated serves coming down your throat. Actually, Jared came up with an unbelievable shot to lob over Max's head to get us to the breakpoint, which was an amazing shot. But we played well. We had kind of a letdown in the second set. We kept fighting. I think with Jared and I, that's one of our trademarks.

DON JOHNSON: That's the same question. Kind of actually a long story, but I'll give you the short version. I was supposed to play with Pete Norval, we won the World Championships last year. Pete was in a car crash. And he was injured to the point where he can't play anymore.

DON JOHNSON: He's finished, yes. So that was disappointing. And then Jared was supposed to play with Byron Black, but he twisted his ankle early in the year. Then I was kind of looking and we played Scottsdale, Arizona, and we won that first tournament. But that's not the end of the story. I was supposed to play with Ricky Leach for the rest of the year once he finished with his assistant coach's job. We were supposed to start in Roland Garros, start playing. And it turned out that Jared and I played on the clay because Byron wasn't ready yet. And we played four tournaments on the clay and we ended up playing two of those four. So, we had won three out of five, spoke to Ricky, spoke to Byron. They said, "Since you had already had a great start on the year, why don't you guys continue to play together." So they were nice enough to let us continue. The first tournament that we signed on the dotted line and said, "Okay, we're partners," we lost first round (laughter).

DON JOHNSON: Roland Garros, we lost first round.

DON JOHNSON: We lost to Nicolas Lapentti and Sjeng Schalken.

DON JOHNSON: Well, I think Jared's -- he's a great player. He's played with some of the best doubles players in the world. He was a super singles player. We have a great relationship off the court, as well as on the court. I think that's very important. When we get on the court, we strive to be better. We push each other. We have a very symbiotic relationship. We really have good chemistry out there.

DON JOHNSON: Nope.

DON JOHNSON: We played against each other many times.

DON JOHNSON: Well, actually, I play the backhand right now, the ad side. He's played mostly the forehand, the deuce side.

DON JOHNSON: Yeah, we won -- in the beginning of the year we won our first three tournaments where he was playing on the backhand side. Then when we went on the grass, we decided to switch. And so we've had some good results with that as well.

DON JOHNSON: We stayed that way.

DON JOHNSON: Queen's was our first tournament. We lost in the semifinals there. Then we won Nottingham, and we won Wimbledon.

DON JOHNSON: Wow, geez, I remember watching the incredible matches with McEnroe and the Swedes when they were in the tiebreakers and they would go 17-15. That was incredible. Incredible matches. So it's always been a dream. I just never realized that I would get there. And it's nice to actually think that we might get the chance to play.

DON JOHNSON: Well, tipping the scales in our favor more and more as the tournament progresses.

DON JOHNSON: Well, it was a big motivating factor, but it also was something that was looming over our heads and almost distracting us from our tennis here at the US Open. Because you're -- how do you differentiate between the two? You come here to play the US Open, and now you're always thinking in the back of your head, "We got to win, we got to win or we're never going to play Davis Cup." So it was very pressure-filled and a strange, strange time to be playing tennis.

DON JOHNSON: Right, right. Probably. I was talking to Sam actually about it, and it was interesting. We didn't start our first round until Thursday and the Bryans had won their first round. So we had all the pressure on our shoulders that we needed to win our first round and stay abreast with the Bryans. And then second round, we won and they had to play after we had won, so now all the pressure was on them. And I don't know, I haven't asked them. But I wanted to see how they felt about the situation. For sure, it must have put a lot of pressure on them to win that match and end up losing in the second round.

DON JOHNSON: No, not at all. Bob and Mike, they're great.

DON JOHNSON: No, they're super friends and great guys.

DON JOHNSON: The only thing we gave Mike a hard time about was his first pitch at Yankee Stadium. Where he threw it into the backstop (laughter).

DON JOHNSON: Krista Johnson, yeah.

DON JOHNSON: OBGYN.

DON JOHNSON: At UNC-CH Hospital.

DON JOHNSON: I hope so. It would be nice if I was on the team and I'd have to turn people down. But I'd like to give as many friends and family the opportunity to come if I do make the team.

DON JOHNSON: Pete was injured in Capetown, South Africa.

DON JOHNSON: He is.

DON JOHNSON: He was for quite some time. He tore 90 percent of his patella tendon and took a big chunk out of his knee. And it wasn't until Wimbledon, so roughly five months, that he had a brace and he still kind of wears a brace on his knee. And then also he dislocated his shoulder and broke his collarbone, so he was in bad shape. He was in the hospital probably for a month and a half.

DON JOHNSON: Actually, they were out riding a jeep on the sand dunes. So, they were more or less just having a good time. I don't know if they flipped it. But what I heard was they were riding into the sun and they were on top of the sand dune and it just disappeared underneath them and they dropped about 40 feet. They were lucky that they didn't have their seat belts on. I mean, I don't think you should print that. I think you should wear your seat belts. But when they hit, they got thrown out rather than being -- .

DON JOHNSON: (Inaudible). We still keep in contact. He's a great guy. Very good friend. His wife's getting ready to have their second child.

DON JOHNSON: No. No. We just have two dogs.

DON JOHNSON: Well, I turn 33 on the 9th. So that's in a couple days.

DON JOHNSON: Thank you. As an inspiration, I don't know if I'm an inspiration. But maybe my work ethic or what I do on the court is probably an inspiration.

DON JOHNSON: Yeah, you're probably right. You're probably right. And I know that in Pat Mac's mind, he would love to choose the Bryans and rightfully so. Jared's played five Davis Cup matches before. I've never had the chance. The future might be with the Bryan brothers. But we had to do a lot to change his mind, I know.

DON JOHNSON: Yeah.

DON JOHNSON: We have played the Bryans once in the Scottsdale, Arizona.

DON JOHNSON: We won, yeah.

DON JOHNSON: Well, I think it's great that we'll be on national TV, but I also think it's a tragedy that they play a men's doubles final at 11 o'clock on Friday. I hope there will be more than ten people in the stands (laughing).

DON JOHNSON: I mean, it's nice to see that the women's doubles is Saturday night or Sunday, so that's great for them. On the weekend, you're just gonna get a lot more people to come in and watch. It's also a pity that the mixed doubles final is tomorrow. They're not going to get anybody to come watch either.

DON JOHNSON: I don't like it. It stinks. Definitely detracts from the best team.

DON JOHNSON: Yeah.

DON JOHNSON: I think the person that probably started that was the tournament director from Australia. He wanted to put another mixed match between the day session and the night session, and he couldn't do it if you played three sets.

DON JOHNSON: I know it was his idea.

DON JOHNSON: That's a good question. Well, I guess definitely persevered over many years. And I've played some of the best players in the game. I mean, this is my time. I'm starting to get a little more confidence. People, when they see me on the other side of the net, maybe fear me a little bit more. I may be 32 getting ready to be 33, but I'm there. I'm playing as good as I've ever played. And maybe now that I have a great partner in Jared alongside of me, he's probably one of the first guys that has been a top doubles player that I've played with, I believe that's going to help me as well get to the next level.

DON JOHNSON: Well, it was interesting just the fact that we were -- (inaudible) -- I was supposed to play with somebody, Jared was supposed to play with somebody, we hooked up. Then as the world turns, I was supposed to play with Ricky. He's supposed to play with another person.

DON JOHNSON: Right after Australia, right after Australia. So I went down and played two tournaments with Kuerten. I was just looking for somebody to play with. I played one in Buenos Aires, and I played in Acapulco. And I won in Acapulco, went straight from Acapulco, talked to Jared that week, we went to Scottsdale. I went in to play Scottsdale with Jared, and I actually think the uncertainty of not having a partner in the future helped us. Because we both wanted to please the other player. When we stepped on the court, it was "I'm going to try and impress my partner." And we did that and we ended up winning.

DON JOHNSON: I don't remember actually. I think it was just kind of we were both looking, we both knew it. It was kind of a mutual agreement.

DON JOHNSON: Well, I don't think it would ever happen. I mean, the guy's playing singles, playing best-of-five, it's difficult.

DON JOHNSON: (Inaudible).

DON JOHNSON: Well, we actually made a great stride in that direction with Wimbledon. We opened up a lot of people's eyes in Wimbledon. Anybody who wins Wimbledon you got to take into consideration. And Jared and I had such a great year. I think we're like 32-5, which is pretty incredible. And this is our tenth tournament. So that also opens a lot of people's eyes.

DON JOHNSON: We've won five tournaments together. And, you know, I've always wanted a chance to play Davis Cup. This has really the best opportunity and it's something I've been striving for. Jared, he's there with me, and we're gonna do it together. That's one of our goals. Also winning here at the US Open and having a great showing has helped us to achieve Davis Cup. And hopefully if we do well here, if we win, it would be a good chance that when we went into Davis Cup in Winston-Salem, we'll be No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings. What better way to represent the U.S. than have the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world?

DON JOHNSON: Three. Jared's 4.

DON JOHNSON: No, not at all. Not at all. I mean, we're here to take care of the US Open. Being at the final of the US Open is a dream come true as well.