Johnson rallies to make semis in St. George
ST. GEORGE, UT - Jorja Johnson is into the semifinals at the Selkirk Red Rock Open after a three-game battle against Vivian Glozman.
The No. 5 seed struggled to deal with Glozman’s aggressive drives initially and went on to drop the first game.
“[Vivian] came out firing, and I wasn’t quite prepared for how heavy her ground strokes were,” Johnson recalled. “She played really well, and I definitely had to make some footwork adjustments.”
Those adjustments had the desired effect as Johnson bounced back to take Game 2, but it was the barrage of well-placed passing shots from the baseline—most of which were hit down the line—that proved to be key for the 17-year-old late in the match.
“[Vivian’s] really long, so I thought she would be able to cut my crosscourt passing shots off,” Johnson explained. “So, I decided to just rip them up the line and see how that would go.”
That worked well enough for Johnson to grab a 7-1 lead in the final game, and she was able to close out the match from there despite a late run from Glozman.
After her 4-11, 11-7, 11-8 victory, Johnson is set to face No. 2 seed Lea Jansen in the semifinals.
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