Reaching the World No. 1 ranking in any sport is a rare achievement, but Hunter Johnson has done just that, earning the top spot in men’s singles on the PPA Tour.

Johnson shared that when he and his brother Yates transitioned from tennis to pickleball, their goal from the start was to rise to the very top of the sport.

“The goal was always number one, and I always believed that I could be number one,” said Hunter. “But when I achieved it, it was pretty surreal. I didn’t really even comprehend it at the time.”

Jeff Johnson, Hunter and Yates’ father, always believed Hunter would achieve his objective, and he couldn’t have been more proud when that dream became a reality.

“I was there when the ranking came out. I’m the kind of guy who looks ahead at the draw, scouts people, and figures out the points to see how many he needs, so I knew it was going to happen. I was confident. He was on a roll then, and he’s on a roll now,” said Jeff. “It’s pretty exciting to see because not many people can say they’ve been number one at a professional sport in the world. It’s very rare, so our whole family is so pumped about it. Hopefully, he can stay there.”

A major factor in elevating Hunter’s game was building unwavering confidence on the court.

“It’s all about confidence for me. I really like to ride the wave of confidence, and I think if I can just stay mentally in that zone consistently, good things happen,” he explained. “Now that I’ve unlocked that achievement in my mind, it kind of culminates to pressure situations on the court, and I almost just gain more confidence. I know that the way I play, I can win a tournament.”

Hunter is also one of the more expressive pros on the circuit. He doesn’t shy away from showing frustration or excitement, and he’s basically an open book during matches.

Now, he’s learning how to channel those emotions and turn them into a competitive edge.

“Before, when I was losing a lot, my emotions would get the best of me. It would be a slow steady decline of emotion and my confidence would go down, too. Now, I can show emotion more to release it. Maybe my body language doesn’t show it, but my mental game is strong in the sense that I’m releasing that energy and I can reset super quick and move on to the next point,” he insisted.

“I’m definitely working on trying to be a little bit steadier emotionally. My body language tends to get floppy sometimes, but I like to show emotion out there. I think it’s boring if you’re not showing emotion. I think the crowd likes it, too. I’m throwing in some jokes here and there, and that seems to keep me a bit looser,” he added.

These adjustments help Johnson stay at the peak of his performance. And with several top men’s singles players close behind him in the rankings, the pressure only fuels his drive to work harder and defend his place at No. 1.

“I always believed that I could get to the number one spot. It’s just getting over those little hurdles and those day-to-day confidence boosters that I needed to work through,”he concluded. “I’m really liking that number one next to my name. I definitely want to keep it.”

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