Steve Johnson Calls it a Career at Indian Wells

(March 10, 2024) INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN – Steve Johnson officially ended his tennis career on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open with a loss in doubles. On Monday, Johnson as a wild card, played his last singles match, a losing effort to Emilio Nava 6-7(6), 7-6(10), 6-4. Johnson had his family on the court as he walked off for the last time as a singles player. Johnson, 34, was a college standout at University of Southern California and led them to four straight collegiate titles. He reached a career high on the ATP Tour of 21 in 2016.

On Sunday, Johnson spoke to media after the doubles loss. He was asked about wat he would say to his late his father:

“I mean, there’s a lot of emotion there. You know, this is a tournament where I came a lot as a kid with him, you know. So for me this has always been home for me, as a kid from Orange County, and now I live in LA. This has been my favorite tournament since I was a kid, playing and then competing in it, watching it, just being here.

“I have a lot to thank my parents for that, but that relationship with my dad was incredibly special. He was my coach forever, and sometimes in the sporting world, we see maybe parents-child coaching relationships not always pan out the way that they should or, you know, in theory.

“I think that was the biggest piece that he, you know, the greatest piece of advice he could give me. He knew when it was time to step back and be a dad and, you know, let somebody else take over.

“So for me, you know, he was somebody that I could call regardless of the situation, you know, tennis, life, whatever.

“Yeah, needless to say it’s been a really hard seven years. You know, I always wanted to be a tennis professional, and I never wanted to do it alone. You know, not saying that I didn’t have — I had, you know, a lot of support, but obviously I wish I could have looked to see my dad in the stands, you know. But I know he’s watching, you know, very proud of my career and, you know, the family that I have.

“It’s just, you know, he gave me a lot and I just wish I could share moments like this with him.”

“I mean, it’s kind of crazy to think I’ve done this since I was two or three years old, and today is the last day I’ll compete as a professional.

“The tennis aspect I’m still in love with. I love competing. I love going out there and playing. Physically I wasn’t at 100% the last, anywhere near that, like, the last 18 months. That took a big toll on me. My mind telling me what I need to do and my body not letting me.

“So I ended up kind of getting some stuff done, taking three months off at the end of last year, after the US Open I tried to play as much as I could but I really couldn’t. I played two tournaments, I think. I took three months off through the holiday season.

“You know, I didn’t miss it. You know, I didn’t miss hitting. I didn’t miss all the little stuff that it takes to be great. You know, I had to do the rehab every day and the working out. All that stuff, it just became more of a chore than something that I have enjoyed to do for, you know, since I was 16, 17, 18 years old. That part was really hard.

“Physically playing, you know, this year I played Dallas. I won the match. Qualified, so I won two matches, and my body felt so bad. I just know, like, what it’s going to take for me to get back to whatever I can get to, I don’t know what that number could have been, and I just didn’t have it in me physically, mentally, emotionally.

“I mean, as you know, this game is very selfish. So being home and, you know, trying to do the rehab and working out and rest, recovery, all that stuff that it takes 10, 12 hours a day and having two kids and having all this stuff, just my priorities shifted.

“I say I’m very happy right now, and content, sad. There’s a lot of emotion. But I’ve been retired for, like, an hour (laughter). It will probably hit me a little harder maybe in a few days when I really am like, okay, not going to Miami, not going to Europe, not going to the French, that kind of stuff it might hit me a little different.

“Yeah, as of now my body, I’m just mentally drained, emotionally drained. This has been an unbelievable week, a stressful week, draining week just trying to get to see so many people, friends and family that knew my dad or knew — I’ve grown up here, so I have a lot of — this is just home for me. It’s been an awesome week, and yeah, something I’ll be thankful for forever.”

“That was kind of the biggest eye-opening thing for me, just the family aspect of — end of last year I was playing tournaments, winning matches, and I wasn’t enjoying it. You know what I mean? It just felt like a job. This has never felt like a job for me. We play tennis for a living.

“That was kind of a pretty big eye-opening thing for me at the end of last year of like, I’m winning these tournaments but at night I’m like, I wish I was home doing the bath or getting the kids ready for bed. That kind of stuff. That was hard for me.

“In the future, I love this sport, I love everything it’s given me, both good, bad. That’s what creates these special moments.

“I would love to stay in tennis in a certain capacity. You know, I think, you know, it’s such a wonderful sport that’s given me so much. Hopefully people will say I gave back as much as I possibly could and hopefully brighten people’s days or anything in that, or saw a kid smile when you sign an autograph, all that kind of stuff.

“That was important to me. Hopefully always give back and now I’ll have more time to do that.”