WIMBLEDON, London — Tennessee tennis player Johannus Monday found out he'd be playing in the Wimbledon singles qualifying tournament less than a week ago, but he didn't mind the short notice.
"It's been my dream to play at Wimbledon since I was a young kid," Monday said. "I guess it's going to be a dream come true for me."
Regardless of if Monday can win the three games necessary to be one of the 16 players to qualify for the Wimbledon singles event, he already made the main draw as a doubles competition with partner Jacob Fearnley from TCU.
"We've been more rivals than anything these last few years because he goes to another good tennis program," Monday said. "We got an opportunity to showcase our abilities on the doubles court in Nottingham and we had a pretty good week."
The pair won the men's doubles title at the Nottingham Open after only about a week of playing together, which earned them a wild card spot at Wimbledon. Monday can't contain his excitement about being this close to realizing his dream.
"When I think about it, it honestly puts a big smile on my face," Monday said. "I've been [to Wimbledon] as a fan and I've always wondered what it would be like to be there as a player, and all the feelings that come with it."
If he gets to the main draw of Wimbledon next week, Monday hopes he can share the experience with one person in particular.
"The only one I truly care about is having my mom there," Monday said. "I'm hoping to get her to London and spend a few days with her, which will be nice because I think it's a really cool thing to experience and I want to bring her on that ride."
Monday said when he received the call that he would have the chance to play at Wimbledon, thinking about his family made him especially emotional.
"My family has put so much into tennis for me," Monday said. "They've had to sacrifice a lot for me, so I feel like this is showing that it has all paid off."
Wimbledon begins on Monday, July 3, with singles competition; doubles competition begins on Wednesday, July 5.
Monday is not the first UT player to compete on the courts of SW17.
J.P. Smith of Australia and Tennys Sandgren of Tennessee also have competed there, as have other UT players. Sandgren made it all the way to the fourth round in 2019.