New-Look Johnson Makes Winning Start In Winston-Salem

There was a new look to Steve Johnson on Tuesday at the Winston-Salem Open. Gone was the beard – “Shaved it off, it was getting a little too itchy… clean it up a little bit and keep my momma happy” – and, more importantly, the California native wore the badge of No. 1 American as he swept 2014 champion Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-2 in 57 minutes.

“Economical. Get in, get out, it’s past my bedtime,” he said. “Lot of ups the last couple weeks. You never know how the body is going to respond mentally, physically. Came out, didn’t serve great tonight… not bad by any stretch, but not the best, and I still felt like I played the important points well and I played great from the ground.”

On Monday, Johnson snapped John Isner’s three-year reign as the top American, backed by a stellar summer run including his first ATP World Tour title in Nottingham, his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final in Cincinnati and first Grand Slam Round of 16 at Wimbledon. He currently stands at a career-high No. 21 Emirates ATP Ranking, one spot ahead of Isner.

“Right now I’m just not hitting the panic button at any moment, until the match is over and at that point there’s not much you can do,” he said. “Even last week in Cincy, losing to Grigor [Dimitrov] I feel like I had a chance to win until that last point, and that’s just how I’m approaching matches now and that’s a big difference for me.”

Johnson will next go for his first win against Fernando Verdasco, though their previous three FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes have come on clay, most recently at Roland Garros this year. Verdasco, the No. 15 seed, advanced with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over American NextGen star Taylor Fritz.

Fifth seed Kevin Anderson’s title defence at the ATP World Tour 250 hard-court tournament came to an early end as he fell in a tricky opener against Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6(5), 6-4. The 23-year-old Vesely, who upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic this past April in Monte-Carlo, evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Anderson in their fourth meeting. 

“We know each other very well,” said Vesely. “We both serve good. I knew it was going to be really up to one or two important points, and I think that’s what it showed today.

“I’m very happy the way I coped with it, the way I fought because you always have to stay there and you always have to just wait for your chance. That’s what I did today. I was just very patient and waiting for my opportunities.”

In doubles, third seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi fought for a 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-6 win over the wild card duo of Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim. Wild cards Leander Paes and Andre Begemann, meanwhile, set up a quarter-final meeting with top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Nenad Zimonjic after defeating Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 6-4, 6-4.