Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Don Johnson is in his eighth season as the Tar Heels' assistant coach and his third year as the chief assistant after serving as a volunteer coach for five years. Johnson's impact on the program was witnessed almost immediately in 2004. He helped mold a Tar Heel team that was ranked No. 50 in the preseason into a unit which won a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title and went on to earn the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels were 23-5 overall in his first full-time year on the staff.
Johnson had retired in 2003 from an active playing career which saw him compete as one of the world's top doubles players for a period of nearly 15 years.
In 2001, Johnson teamed with Jared Palmer to win the doubles title at Wimbledon, finish as the runnerup team at the U.S. Open and represent the U.S. Davis Cup Team. Palmer and Johnson competed for the U.S. in Davis Cup play against India in Winston-Salem, N.C. in October 2001 In 2002, he teamed with Palmer to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.
Johnson surpassed the $1 million dollar mark in earnings in 2001 and in that year he had his most successful season, winning five ATP Tour Master's Series titles. Overall, he posted a career best doubles record of 40-10 during 2001. Johnson's biggest victories included the 2000 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title, his first grand slam title, and the 2000 World Doubles Championships, considered professional tennis' fifth major.
In the World Doubles Championship, Johnson teamed with South Africa's Piet Norval. Johnson's other victories in 2000 were Mexico City (with Byron Black), Estoril (Portugal), Nottingham (England) and Basel (Switzerland). In June 2000 Johnson teamed with Kimberly Po to win the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Championship 6-2, 7-6 over Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijisters. It was the first grand slam title of any kind for Po and Johnson who lost the U.S. Open final the year before in mixed doubles play.
Johnson finished his career with 23 ATP Tour career doubles titles. The majority of Johnson's early success was achieved with fellow American Francisco Montana. Johnson and Montana advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open in 1996 and 1998 and the semifinals of the 1998 World Doubles Championships. In 1998, Johnson's doubles ranking rose to No. 6 in the world.
Johnson's first doubles wins came in 1996 at Amsterdam and at Mexico City. When he retired he was the oldest player in the year-end Top 10 of the doubles rankings at the age of 34. All in all, he finished his career with total prize money of $2,288,944.
Johnson is a 1990 graduate of the University of North Carolina. He played tennis at UNC for four years after growing up in Bethlehem, Pa. As a senior at Carolina, he was named first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference and he played No. 2 singles on a team which won the Tar Heels' first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 12 years.
After earning the Sportsmanship Award at the 1986 U.S. Tennis Association National Junior Championships, Johnson matriculated at Carolina to begin an outstanding career, culminating with a degree in economics. He was married on May 21, 1995 to his wife Krista Johnson, who is a resident doctor at UNC Hospitals.
Johnson turned professional in 1992. He was coached in the professional ranks by both Sam Paul and Juan Barcelo.
Don and Krista Johnson built a home in Chapel Hill while Don was still playing professionally. It was always his dream to return to Carolina on a full-time basis even as he became one of the most accomplished doubles players in the world.
Don and Krista are the parents of Garlynd Love Johnson, born on May 10, 2004.
