"Jannik Sinner's terrible, he's never going to make it" - Steve Johnson reveals first impression he had of World No. 1 after losing close battle

Former American player Steve Johnson has recalled losing in two sets to a teenage Jannik Sinner on his podcast. He also shared that he called his agent Sam Duvall to complain about the Italian after the match, letting him know of his plans to quit tennis out of fury.

Johnson, who held the No. 1 rank in men's singles for a week in 2016, won nine ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Tour titles. He also won bronze in the men's doubles alongside Jack Sock at the 2016 Rio Games. Ranked No. 237, he entered the 2024 Dallas Open and continued his momentum at the BNP Paribas Open, losing in the singles qualifying round before retiring from the sport on March 10, 2024.

Following his retirement, Johnson joined fellow former US tennis stars, Sam Querrey, John Isner, and Jack Sock to host the Nothing Major podcast. In the latest episode, he recalled Sinner's first win against him, opening up about losing his cool and criticizing the World No. 1:

"It was 2019. So I walked out there and the kid's like 6'3", 112 pounds, super skinny and you're like, 'Oh this could go bad for me, you gotta win, right, because this is just a bad look on center court.' So I win the first set 6-1 or 6-2, then I lose the second set bad and then the third set. I either served for the match or had match points and then lost 7-5.

I called my agent Sam Duvall, 'I just lost, this kid sucks, he's terrible, I'm literally quitting tennis for the rest of my life,' and then I started talking to my agent, couple of the other coaches, and they're like, 'Give it time, this kid is going to be unreal.'"

Johnson then highlighted how the tables turned and Jannik Sinner became the World No. 1 and now amasses $100 million in earnings from winning Slams and major tournaments.

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Steve Johnson opines on Jannik Sinner changing rackets in 2024

Jannik Sinner playing at the Davis Cup Finals - (Source: Getty)

Jannik Sinner had a successful 2024 season, taking the Australian Open and US Open titles. He ended his season with a win over the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the Davis Cup final and contributed to Italy's second consecutive title win. Amid the stellar trajectory, Sinner's pattern of changing rackets caught the attention of former player, Steve Johnson.

In the Nothing Major podcast, Johnson called the changing rackets habit "odd" and asked his co-hosts whether they noticed the same:

"I don’t know if you guys saw this but maybe it was before Paris, but Sinner was trying new rackets. I think he was in Monte Carlo, trying a bunch of new frames. Is that weird? He is number one in the world, what is there that he needs to change? I feel like that’s an odd move. Maybe he is testing something but when you are number one in the world, winning slams, money is no issue. Am I off on that or is that normal?”

One of his co-hosts replied:

"I feel like that's just what greats do."

Jannik Sinner won 18 singles titles on the ATP tour and was the youngest ATP 500 champion at the Washington Open in 2021.