Johannus Monday to use Wimbledon experience as a springboard despite double defeat

The 23-year-old’s time at SW19 included a debut in the men’s singles and a return to doubles action where he made the second round with Jacob Fearnley in 2023.

At the start of the week, his singles bow came to an abrupt halt as he was beaten in straight sets by No 13 seed Tommy Paul of the United States.

Then on Thursday evening he was partnered by Hertfordshire 26-year-old David Stevenson, a top 100 doubles player, but they were edged out 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 by Italy’s Mattia Bellucci and Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan – both ranked inside the world’s top 75 in singles.

East Yorkshireman Monday, a 6ft 6in lefty, served well and didn’t face a single break point on the way to a first set tiebreak on Wimbledon’s Court 5, but Bellucci and Marozsan managed to find some momentum.

“It often happens in tennis, you lose a very tight set 7-6 and then they have the momentum, and you lose the second set as well,” said Monday after defeat in one hour and seven minutes on Thursday. “We had chances to break back in the second set, and I truly think if we did that, we’d have taken the set because the momentum comes back to our side.”

Despite the defeat, Wimbledon 2025 has marked a significant milestone for Monday, who earned £66,000 for his first-round singles defeat to Paul.

“It’s tough – they’re high-ranked players,” Monday said of his opponents.

“No match at this level is going to be easy. They’re pushing hard in singles, so I think singles players are very good doubles players.

“You get to see what the level is like. Bellucci is in the third round and Marozsan lost today in the second round, so they can win at this level.

“It’s interesting to see what their ball speed is like and how they act on court.”

At a career high ranking of 224, Monday sits around the cut line for the US Open’s qualifying tournament with just a few weeks until entry closes.

This means there’s little time for reflection as he continues his grass court season in Nottingham next week before heading abroad.

“The main goal for me is to try and make the US Open qualifiers cut,” Monday responded when asked what’s next.

“I’m going to Nottingham next week and then to two tournaments in Spain. After those three events, we’ll see whether I’ve made it.

“That would be a good goal to have in the short term. Longer term, it’s definitely to try and get into that top 100 by this time next year.

“That’s the goal, to not need or want a wildcard into the singles event here. The most important thing is to focus on the day-to-day stuff to put myself in the best possible position to do that.”

After graduating from the University of Tennessee in 2024, Monday turned full-time professional.

While the transition brought its challenges, he now feels ready to build a sustained career on tour: “At the start it was tough, I wanted to base myself where I was at university.

“Looking back, that was just because I didn’t want to let it go, because I had such a great experience there.

“I had four amazing years at Tennessee, but that’s in the past, and now I’ve got a very cool ten plus years on the tour to experience.

“It’s a pretty cool job I have. I’m loving it.”