For 26-year-old Steve Johnson, tennis' team player, dreams are suddenly coming true

How does the lone remaining U.S. man in the Olympic singles draw begin his second-round match in Rio? If you’re a team player like Steve Johnson, you take a minute to help fix a leaking barrel of ice on Court 4 before going on to beat your opponent, Gastao Elias of Portugal, in routine straight-set fashion.

The Olympics weren’t a hit with the American men this year. John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Bob and Mike Bryan all skipped it, and three of the players who did make the trip—Jack Sock, Brian Baker and Denis Kudla—went out in the first round. That has left the 22nd-ranked, 26-year-old Johnson to fly the nation’s flag by himself. Fortunately, the Games, with their all-for-one spirit, are right up his alley.

“I grew up my whole life playing team sports,” Johnson said on Tuesday. “I love being part of a team atmosphere. You play for yourself every week on tour. Here you get to play for something bigger than yourself. To have good buddies around, it’s all good fun for me.”

Whoever he’s playing for, the last two months has been nothing but good fun, and a series of dreams come true, for Johnson. He won his first career title in Nottingham, and at Wimbledon he made the second week and played on Centre Court for the first time. The fact that Johnson lost to Roger Federer didn’t take away from the experience at all. In fact, it was more overwhelming than he expected.

“Leading up to the match it felt to me like any other match,” Johnson said of his fourth-rounder against Federer. “When we were about to walk on Centre Court, it all changed. Walking on court in that moment it took my breath away, and it took a good 10 to 15 minutes for me to feel completely normal out there.”

For Johnson, who has had limited Davis Cup duty so far in his career, perhaps the only thing that could top Centre Court was a chance to play for his country at the Games. Like other members of his generation, there’s nothing odd about tennis being a part of this competition.

“As a kid you watch the Olympics,” Johnson said last month, “and see people winning medals for their country, and it’s truly special. I’m beyond excited about my trip to Rio as an Olympian.”

With his results there, Johnson could achieve another once-remote dream: taking over the title of America’s best male tennis player. As of this week, Isner was just three spots ahead of him in the rankings.

The Olympics were made for a player like Johnson. As he says, he’s a team guy, but he isn’t just any team guy. He’s one of the all-time great college players, having led USC to four straight NCAA titles from 2009 to 2012. And unlike the top players, he’s not someone who designs his season to peak at the majors. Johnson makes his living grinding it out week by week. It was that willingness to grind—to take his lumps, put his head down and move onto the next event—that has saved his season.

Johnson began the year with a career-high ranking and career-high expectations, only to see them both come crashing down in the first six weeks. He started the year with losses to the 299th-, 145th- and 104th-ranked players in the world. He says he didn’t start to turn it around until he reached the grass courts at Queens Club in June; that’s a long time to stay patient, but it’s paying off for Johnson now.

“I didn’t have the best start to the year,” Johnson said at Wimbledon. “But, you know, that’s why it’s a long year. You have to rebound and take the good with the bad, and hopefully turn it around.

“...I think I was just getting in my own way a little bit mentally. I just needed to play tennis again and not worry about the outside factors and everything. I think, for me, it was just focusing on what I do best on a tennis court, and that’s have fun and play tennis.”

Johnson has had fun in Rio so far. He’s walked in the opening ceremony, met Secretary of State John Kerry and he's still in the doubles draw, with Jack Sock. The two are in the semis, and are guaranteed a chance to play for a medal later this week. Against Elias on Tuesday, Johnson showed that his newfound confidence is strong enough to withstand a day when he can’t find his best stuff.

“I was comfortable in spots,” Johnson said afterward, “and uncomfortable in spots. I don’t think I played my A game. But I served great.

“Hopefully, as the tournament goes farther and farther, you get sharper and sharper.”

Johnson’s next match, against 84th-ranked Evgeny Donskoy of Russia, is certainly winnable, though a quarterfinal victory over defending gold medalist Andy Murray would be a long shot.

Would the U.S. like to have a singles player left in the draw who has a stronger shot than Johnson at a medal? Probably. But it should be happy to have someone who, at 26, can still feel properly overwhelmed when a dream comes true.