FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – Nestled in the foothills of Santiago Hills sits Salem Lutheran Elementary School, a place Steve Johnson and Carson Branstine attended more than 10 years apart.
Johnson and Branstine hail from Orange, and it’s safe to say there weren’t two other tennis players remaining in any of the U.S. Open draws Wednesday who attended the same grammar school.
Johnson is a 25-year-old ATP player who teamed with best friend Sam Querrey to advance to the men’s doubles semifinals at the year’s final Grand Slam.
Branstine, 14, had her U.S. Open run come to an end when she and partner Kelly Chen of Cerritos fell in the second round of the girls junior doubles draw to Katharina Hobgarski of Germany and Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus, 6-3, 6-0.
“My older sisters remember him from (school),” Branstine said of Johnson. “I just remember seeing him in the newspaper for all of his tennis. My cousin (Atlanta Braves first baseman) Freddie Freeman played on the same basketball team with him and they’re still friends. I’ve known him for so long. To see him doing so well is just so motivating, being from the same area. It would be so cool to be just as good as him and be on the tour with him someday.”
Branstine, a freshman who attends online school, turned heads over the weekend when she qualified for the main draw of the junior event by winning two qualifying matches. With no International Tennis Federation ranking to speak of because of her age, she received a wild card into qualifying from the USTA.
“It was an amazing experience at the U.S Open,” said Branstine, who lost her first-round singles match Monday. “I’m just so pumped for next year and can’t wait to come back and do some real damage.”
Newly named U.S. Davis Cup teammates, the team of Johnson and Querrey have been doing some damage of their own. After they lost their first-round singles matches, they decided to pour all their energy into doubles, and it paid off when they upset the top-ranked team in the world – 16-time Grand Slam champions Bob and Mike Bryan – in the first round, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3.
Johnson and Querrey defeated Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) and Joao Sousa (Portugal), 6-3, 6-4, Wednesday, and next face the eighth-seeded team of Jamie Murray (Great Britan) and Australian John Peers on Thursday with a berth in Saturday’s final at stake.
With the quarterfinal victory, Johnson and Querrey earned “Final 8 Club” status and receive lifetime badges to attend the U.S. Open.
“It’s really cool to be in the Final 8 Club,” Johnson said. “It’s my first one and I’ll get to come here for the rest of my life. I just hope we can get two more wins.”
Johnson’s parents still reside in Orange, and Steve Sr. has run his tennis academy out of the Rancho San Clemente Tennis & Fitness Club for the past 15 years.
Some tennis parents have a hard time watching their offspring play on such a big stage, but Johnson Sr., did his best to contain himself as he sat in his son’s player box seats Wednesday.
“I just sit there and don’t show any emotion, but inside my heart is going 100 miles an hour,” Johnson Sr. said. “(Steve) doesn’t look at me. Today I was sitting with his college coach, Peter Smith (USC). So he looked over at him a couple of times.”
Johnson Sr. said the win over the Bryan twins gave the duo confidence they could win the tournament. “(Steve and Sam) are always called America’s ‘other doubles team,’” Johnson Sr. said. “This year they got here and both were out of singles and just went for it.”
Johnson Sr., said the semifinal run hasn’t sunk in yet. “It’s just weird because he’s been talking about this since he was a kid,” he said. “It’s really a dream come true.”
And the dream’s not over yet.