Heading into his senior year, Steve Johnson scored a coveted summer internship to prepare himself for life after school. The NCAA singles champ is testing his game at the highest level of tennis.
Tuesday, Johnson took on veteran tour pro Gilles Muller in the first round of the Farmer's Classic at UCLA. After dusting Muller 6-2 in the first in just 23 minutes, Johnson lost the battle in the second and third sets (3-6 and 4-6), so he is still searching for his first professional main draw win, but he is hardly discouraged.
"I can hang with these guys," Johnson said after the match. "He was a semifinalist last week and I'm right there with him. I came out strong and maybe a couple of points in the middle of the third, a little experience on my part, and things turn out differently."
Muller is ranked 71st in the world and famously knocked Andy Roddick out of the 2005 U.S. Open.
"Tonight is another testament that I will play this game for a long time and hopefully be very successful at it," said Johnson. "Tennis is pretty small margins and one or two shots make a difference in the whole match."
In this case, he had three consecutive break points in the first game of the second set, but Muller served his way out of it. Johnson double-faulted on break point in the second and then double-faulted twice in the pivotal game of the third set.
Undeterred, the USC three-time national champ is headed for a full summer and fall pro schedule, including the U.S. Open, before returning to school.
"I'm going to play the rest of the year at ATP, challenger, pro circuit stuff and see how it goes. Unless something incredible happens, I'll be back at SC in January ready to get another national title."
Here are John McGillen's photos from yesterday's match on center court...
University Southern California Trojans
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Wednesday, August 19
