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Steve Johnson retires from tennis after BNP Paribas Open effort ends

Victoria Chiesa | March 11, 2024

American Steve Johnson officially closed the book on his 12-year career as a professional tennis player last week at the BNP Paribas Open—first with a 6-7(6), 7-6(10), 6-4 loss to compatriot Emilio Nava in the first round of qualifying, and then a 6-2, 7-6(3) defeat partnering Tommy Paul in the opening round of the doubles main-draw on Sunday.

 

A former world No. 21 in the ATP rankings, Johnson ends his competitive career with highlights that include a doubles bronze medal for Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympics—where he also reached the quarterfinals in singles—four career ATP singles titles, and 41 career Grand Slam main-draw appearances. A stalwart for U.S. tennis for a decade-plus, Johnson, now 34, won at least won match in 22 of those majors: He played in the main draw of 13 consecutive US Opens dating back to his 2011 debut, and his best career result at a major was a fourth-round effort at Wimbledon in 2016. He also reached a Grand Slam third round 10 other times.

 

But physical problems, namely with his knee, over the last year forced Johnson to evaluate if his career was nearing its end, he told usta.com last week. That, coupled with the fact that Indian Wells—played about two hours from where he was born in Orange, Calif.—made the place they call “Tennis Paradise” a fitting place to say farewell.

“Being out for three or four or five months taking care of things, that's a little too long for me to be gone … to come back. I knew I just didn't have it mentally in me,” Johnson said.

 

“The monotony that you have of the warm-ups, the cool-downs, the practices, everything I needed to do to get myself to a spot to go out and compete was no longer enjoyable for me—and that used to never be an issue. I always just did it and enjoyed it, and the whole process of it. But what I've noticed in the last month—I didn’t pick up a racquet for three months until [playing] Dallas this year [in February]—is I love to compete. I still really enjoy it. Unfortunately, there's a lot more that goes into getting out there to compete that I just haven't enjoyed the last six, eight, nine months.

 

“Indian Wells was always a spot I wanted to stop. This is home for me. I've come to this tournament a hundred times—throughout my childhood, my professional career, you name it. I've loved the place. I've always said, this is my favorite time of the year. For all my friends and family and everybody that could come out to support and see my last matches, it’s very meaningful to me and a perfect sendoff for my career.”

Photo by Brad Penner/USTA.

Tennis was in Johnson’s blood from the start, as his father, Steve Sr., was a tennis coach at the Rancho San Clemente Tennis and Fitness Club, and introduced his son to the sport. Prior to his professional career, Johnson was one of the most decorated college tennis players in history: In four years for the University of Southern California Trojans, he won six national championships—four with his team, and two in singles individually in his junior and senior seasons. He closed his NCAA career on a staggering 72-match win streak, was a seven-time All-American at USC, and was twice named the Player of the Year by both the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and Pac-12 Conference. Somewhat non-traditionally for a top-level junior, he also had a standout high school tennis career at Orange High School and won the state’s high school title twice.

 

The Southern California native reached his career-high ranking in 2016—a year in which he also boasted the distinction of being the highest-ranking American man—and was ranked inside the ATP’s year-end Top 100 for eight straight seasons from 2014-21. He also played in five ties for the U.S. Davis Cup team.

 

“I remember as a kid, I dreamed of breaking Pete Sampras' Grand Slam record. You always dream. At that time, he was still at the top of the totem pole. You always dream as high as you could possibly dream Realistically, if I would've told myself that this would be my career at 12 or 13, I probably would have been like, 'Man, you stink. ... That's all you did? You've got to be better than that,'” he joked.

 

“But with perspective and hindsight, I'm extremely, extremely proud of everything I did. I may not be the best tennis player out there from a forehand, backhand, all-around component, but every day, I was going to go out there and compete to the best of my ability and be just a son of a gun to go out there and deal with. I left everything I could out there on the court each and every day. That's what I'm most proud of: that I left my heart and soul out there in every match.

 

“I'm very happy with everything I've accomplished. To look back and see four titles, multiple other finals, Olympic medalist, Davis Cup player ... all the things that you dream about as a kid I was able to experience and do. In a few weeks, maybe a day, I don't know when it's going to kick in, but it's going to really hit me that it was remarkable. I don't often like to talk about my own accolades—that's just not who I am—but everything I started in college to here where I am now, I couldn't be happier and more proud of what I accomplished.”

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