Steve Johnson back on track after harrowing start to 2021
The American discussed his daughter's birth and health issues during a successful week at Roland Garros.
Steve Johnson had to battle at Roland Garros—winning a pair of five-setters to reach the third round for the fourth time on the terre battue—but the American veteran has been in fight mode since the end of last year, when daughter Emma was born.
“Emma had a routine pediatric checkup and they sent her right to the hospital, because her oxygen levels were extremely low. She was in the ICU for five or six days,” Johnson told ATPTour.com. “That’s hard. We’re new parents obviously, it’s our first. There are COVID protocols at the hospital. Just my wife was in the room with her. She couldn’t have the support of family because she couldn’t leave Emma’s side."
Already in Melbourne, the former world No. 21 flew home to attend to his family, and was on hand when Emma underwent surgery in February.
"That’s why I think I was definitely struggling at the beginning when I came back, because my heart and my mind were at different places than the tennis court.”
The understandable distraction left Johnson without much left to give on the tennis court, and he arrived in Paris winless in five previous matches.
He snapped that streak in the first round of Roland Garros, rallying from two sets down against fellow American Frances Tiafoe, and pulled off another epic win over Thiago Monteiro before bowing out to No. 12 seed Pablo Careño Busta.
Check out Johnson's Tennis Channel interview with Steve Johnson, and click here to learn more about his personal and professional journey.