Steve Johnson recalls the match where Jannik Sinner made him “want to quit tennis”

Steve Johnson shared the story of his painful defeat to a 17-year-old Jannik Sinner at the Rome Open, a match that made the American consider leaving tennis. Johnson, then ranked in the top 40, faced a wildcard Sinner, who had yet to break into the top 100.

Despite being the favourite against the local player, Johnson was caught off guard by the young Italian. Reflecting on the encounter, Johnson described his initial impression of Sinner as they stepped onto the Center Court in Rome.“I don’t know if you guys ever felt this: you play like a local wildcard or a hometown kid, and there are different feelings you can have,” Johnson said. “If I’d played a 27-year-old Italian wildcard in Rome, I’d have felt way more comfortable.”

He added, “I walk out there, and the kid was like 6ft 3, 112 pounds, super skinny, and you’re just like, this can go bad for me. All I’m thinking about is, you’ve got to win, right? Because this is just a bad look on center court.”

Johnson won the first set convincingly, 6-1 or 6-2, but things quickly unraveled. “I lose the second set badly, I think it was also like 6-1 or 6-2. It was horrible tennis,” he said. In the deciding set, Johnson led 4-1 and then served with match point on 5-3, but he ultimately lost the final five games in a row, falling 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.

“I called my agent, I’m like, I just lost to this kid. This kid sucks. He’s terrible. I cannot believe it. I’m literally quitting tennis for the rest of my life. All of those thoughts went into my head—you’ve just lost to a 17-year-old. It was bad,” said Johnson, a doubles bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Johnson’s agent and coaches urged him to give Sinner time, assuring him that the Italian was destined for greatness. “I was like, you guys are so stupid. This guy’s never going to make it anywhere. He’s going to have one win, and it’s going to be me,” Johnson recalled.

“Little did I know, four years later, he’d be making hundreds of millions of dollars a year, winning slams, and being by far and away the number one player,” Johnson admitted. “I’m glad to know I’m a great evaluator of talent,” he joked. “Not one of my finer moments in tennis, but ultimately, I’m glad to be a footnote in somebody’s very good career.”