Aegon Open Nottingham, Great Britain

Men’s Final: [25] Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs [38] Steve Johnson (USA)

The first professional career title will always hold a special place in the heart of every tennis player.  It represents the fulfillment of dreams and is the product of years of hard work and sacrifice.  It is always hardest to win that first title and many have gotten to finals only to walk away empty-handed.  Johnson knows what it feels like to win titles, having won many in his illustrious college career; however, today he got to experience for the first time what it feels like to win on a professional level.  To many the moment is surreal because no matter how often you dream about it, you are never quite prepared for the tsunami of emotions that bombard you when the last point is won and you realize you are the champion.

Johnson has been working hard to make the transition from a successful college career to a successful professional career.   2015 saw him losing some heart breakers and understandably a bit of doubt may have crept in, but he persevered, trusting in his game and playing his style of tennis.  This victory means a lot to Johnson who will hopefully build on it going forward, not only at Wimbledon but in the years to come.  The pathway to victory has been discovered and I think Johnson would like to go down that road as many times as possible.  Congratulations to Johnson who competed well the entire tournament and stayed positive in his match against Kevin Anderson.  Today was also not easy but he got it done in straight sets, 7-6(5), 7-5.