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Johns Outduels Garnett In Three-game Epic For Men’s Singles Gold
After a 1-1 record through the mixed doubles and men’s doubles finals, Ben Johns returned to Humana Championship Court for one final time in the Georgia capital and left with a thrilling 3-11, 11-9, 11-9 victory over No. 3 seed Connor Garnett to claim the men’s singles title.
Garnett seemed to be in full control when he got up 5-1 in Game 2 after comfortably taking the first with a barrage of precise passing shots, but Johns turned it on from there and forced Garnett to play slower-paced, cat-and-mouse style points.
The No. 4 seed earned his first match point at 10-6 in the third game and went on to close out the epic encounter a few minutes later at the fourth time of asking to secure his second title of the day.
After successfully defending an ATP into the open court to win the contest, Johns let out a yell, signaling a degree of emotion that we don’t often see from him.
He spoke about the reason for that emotion, as well as his appreciation for the crowd, in a post-match interview.
“Connor gets to everything and makes you hit so many balls, so I was just exhausted at the end. I think that’s what brought the emotion out of me,” he explained. “A lot of people say that you can’t do it without the crowd, and this time it was really true. I was just so exhausted, and they helped a lot.”
Even though Garnett ended up on the losing side of the battle, he’s still focusing on the positives after making his first Championship Sunday appearance of 2025.
“I’m stoked to be playing well, and the energy was electric out here,” he said. “It’s always fun having battles with great players. Obviously not the result I wanted, but all kudos to Ben. He really went out there and took it.”
In the bronze medal match, No. 2 seed Hunter Johnson defeated No. 8 seed Dylan Frazier by an 11-2, 11-7 score line.
