Johannus Monday insisted he will learn the lessons from his Wimbledon defeat to Tommy Paul, but not until he has taken time to savour his Grand Slam singles debut. Returning to SW19 for the first time since 2023, where he teamed up with Jacob Fearnley in doubles, the Hull native made his maiden bow as a solo act on Tuesday, as he took on the world Paul on No.3 Court.
Despite his best efforts, he was defeated by the American 6-4 6-4 6-2 but while Monday admitted he was taught a lesson about what it takes to compete at the very top, he is determined to absorb as much as he can from their encounter.
“It was very cool. It was always a dream of mine to play singles at Wimbledon on a big court,” said Monday. “There are only 12 players better than Tommy Paul in the world right now so he’s a pretty good player.
“It was a very difficult match, and I felt the pressure going into it. Not an expectation to win but it’s a different feeling walking onto that court. You’re playing for a lot on the line but it was a dream come true for me to walk onto a court like that.
“I just tried to just really savour the moment and enjoy it as much as I can. I had a chat with my coach after and said today’s not the day to nitpick my game. We can do that the other 364 days of the year.
“After I’ve let the dust settle, I’ll look back at the match and watch for the things I can take away because there are a lot of things I can take away but that’s to talk about in the coming days, not hours after the match. What a cool experience this has been. It’s a dream of mine come true and I want to savour that moment because it doesn’t come around too often.”
Monday won’t have to wait too long to recapture the dream, with the 23-year-old teaming up with David Stevenson as men’s doubles wild cards and he revealed that he is raring for anther go at the lawns of SW19.
“I’m never going to complain about playing more matches at Wimbledon, added Monday. “Whether it’s singles, doubles, touch-tennis, sign me up I’ll play every single match I can here. It’s going to be another very cool experience to look forward to.”
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