America's Steve Johnson wept as he paid tribute to his late father, describing his French Open first-round victory as "one the hardest matches I've played"
Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson
America's Steve Johnson wept as he paid tribute to his late father, describing his French Open first-round victory as "one the hardest matches I've played".
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Steve Johnson senior, a widely-respected coach of more than 30 years in California, passed away suddenly earlier in May. He was just 58. His son admitted he had suffered a rollercoaster of emotions as he came back yesterday to defeat Japan's Yuichi Sugita in a match held over from Sunday night.
Johnson, 27, eventually saw off Sugita 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 having had match points on Sunday when darkness halted the tie after six games of the fourth set.
"Just a lot of the emotions. You know, my dad he was such a big part of my tennis life, just an emotional time. Yeah, it's not about tennis right now," said the American 25th seed.
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