Steve Johnson entered the match against Evgeny Donskoy after defeating Milos Raonic 6-2 6-4 in the 2nd Round. Outside of Delray Beach, Johnson has had a poor start to 2018, winning only 1 match. “I had some trouble closing out matches earlier in the year. There was a little bit of a lack of confidence. I’ve had 3 chances to serve out matches this week and I did it every single time.”
Donskoy did well to reach his first quarterfinal since beating Roger Federer in Dubai last year. The Russian advanced through Darian King and Donald Young to set up this clash.
Last time the two have met was the 2016 US Open, where Johnson advanced after a five-set drama. “You don’t want to think about that and you never know what kind of residual feelings he may have… I definitely didn’t expect him to roll over today and it was a tough match,” said Johnson about their previous meeting.
Johnson put out a dominant display over Donskoy and won 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes. Johnson and Donskoy play a similar game style, but the American showed today that he is a level higher than his opponent. “I take it day-by-day, every day is different. Hopefully, I’ll have another good day tomorrow and if nothing else, I’ll have some more momentum,” said Johnson
“It’s awesome to have Americans in. We’ll get some positive feedback, which is few and far between these days,” said Johnson, possibly referencing the negative coverage of Tennys Sandgren’s political views and the recent feud between Ryan Harrison and Donald Young.
Johnson also previewed his potential all-American derby against Reilly Opelka: “Reilly is a good friend of mine and it’s always good to see him doing well. We have the same agent and spend a lot of time together. He’s a great kid and loves sports. If we do play each other and he gets the win, he’s never allowed to stay over in my house again.”
However World No. 64 Peter Gojowczyk thwarted those plans with his win over the giant American. The German won in straight sets 7-6(5) 6-3 after 1 hour and 20 minutes. Gojowczyk’s attacking style of returning was what put him above Opelka today.
This was their 3rd meeting, all victorious for Gojowczyk. During the first set tiebreaker, Opelka yelled: “I hate playing him, I never want to play him again!” He later confirmed these comments in the press: “I kind of expected [the loss], he has beaten me two times before. I never want to play him again… Everything’s good. He’s got my number. He’s a great player and I knew I had my hands full. It was pretty similar the previous two matches.”
Opelka also commented on his “bromance” with Steve Johnson: “[playing him next] was in the back of my mind. When I’m in Carson I stay with him in Redondo Beach. He has a pretty nice house, a big house, so there is plenty of space for me. He knows I love Lucky Charms and Red Bull, so the last time I stayed there, I opened the fridge and he had a 12 pack of Red Bull and two boxes of Lucky Charms. I’m like: ‘Wow, what a great guy’. That’s a great friend right there. He’s the man, I’m always rooting for Stevie. I like Peter [Gojowczyk] too, he’s a nice guy, but I’m rooting for Stevie.
In the past 12 months, Peter Gojowczyk has absolutely skyrocketed, rising from No. 162 to No. 64, winning ATP 250 in Metz, reaching semifinals in Newport and now in Delray Beach. The German previewed this upcoming clash of veterans: “That is a totally different match compared to my last two matches. I played some huge service guys, Reilly and John. Now, it is going to be an open match, I think. He played very well today, not that many unforced errors too. You have to play more from the baseline against him.”
Gojowczyk and Johnson will face off in the semifinals tomorrow at 3 PM local time.
