University of North Carolina Athletics
Johnson Reaches Wimbledon Doubles Final
July 5, 2001 | Men's Tennis
July 5, 2001
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND - Don Johnson, Carrboro, N.C. native, assistant men's tennis coach at the University of North Carolina and former Tar Heel star, class of 1990, needs only one more win to be crowned the gentlemen's doubles champion at Wimbledon in 2001.
Johnson, playing with former Stanford star Jared Palmer, reached the finals with a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win in the semifinals Thursday afternoon against Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus. The win puts Johnson and Palmer into the final Saturday against Jiri Novak and David Riki of the Czech Republic. That duo, seeded #3, defeated 15th-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan of the United States, 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 Thursday. Johnson and Palmer are the #3 seeds.
Johnson, the defending Wimbledon champion in mixed doubles, is being coached at Wimbledon by current Tar Heel men's tennis coach Sam Paul. Johnson and partner Kimberly Po, with whom he won the mixed doubles crown last year, are slated to play in the quarterfinals of mixed doubles later Thursday.
Johnson is currently ranked #8 in the world in doubles, the highest individual doubles rank of his career. Palmer is ranked 10th in doubles. Johnson will be seeking his 20th career doubles title and his first career grand slam win in doubles. This is also the furthest he has ever advanced in his doubles career in a grand slam event. His previous best finish was a Wimbledon quarterfinals berth in 1997 and quarterfinal berths at the French Open in 1996 and 1998.
