Nearly two decades have passed but when Nadia Johnston is asked to recount her injury-enforced retirement from professional tennis the memories and anguish come flooding back.

It was 2001 and Queensland-born Johnston, 23 years old at the time, was making her way in the sport she had loved since childhood and had just featured in qualifying for the Australian Open.

Promise, however, soon turned to despair and by the summer Johnston had been forced to retire after suffering an irreparable wrist injury. It was a cruel and merciless way to see her dreams and hopes dashed.

“When my tennis career ended due to injury it was a hard time in my life,” Johnston told itftennis.com. “I was definitely in a depression and I isolated myself.

“I was obsessed with tennis from a very young age and only ever saw myself as a professional tennis player. I loved every part of it and didn’t want that lifestyle to end.

“It was so hard watching my friends still playing and knowing that I would never compete again at that level. When you dedicate your entire life to something, it’s difficult to see it taken away.”

But from the ashes, salvation stirred. In 2003, Johnston relocated from Australia to Long Island and began teaching tennis on a private basis with a view to becoming a coach on the professional circuit.

Unbeknown at the time, a whole new world was about to present itself. Two years after moving to New York State, beach tennis began to flicker on Johnston’s radar. 

“A friend and client who played both beach volleyball and tennis heard about a beach tennis tournament nearby and thought I would like it,” says Johnson. “I played and won the tournament and was instantly addicted. I have been addicted ever since.

“After being forced to retire from tennis, at first there was a sense of what might have been, but if I didn’t have the injury then I would never have found beach tennis.

“While nothing could ever compare with winning a Grand Slam, considering where my tennis was at the time, beach tennis has most certainly filled the void, and in some ways surpassed it.

“Beach tennis is more than a sport to me. It’s a lifestyle and the people I have met are like family.”

Johnston flourished and dominated the women’s division of the Beach Tennis USA National Tour and remained undefeated until the 2009 National Championship at Long Beach.

For most of her career she has been the top-ranked US woman on the planet and was the first American player, male or female, to win an ITF $10,000 event.

A cascade of silverware has followed, including five ITF titles in 2019 alone, while Johnston reached a career-high No. 9 in the world rankings. She has also represented the United States at the ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championships and, in October, at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games.

“I have won numerous tournaments but there is no question my career highlight was winning the ITF’s Aruba tournament in 2011, while two more Aruba finals in the following years are a close second,” said Johnston, who combines her beach tennis exploits with working as club pro.

“Nothing can top playing on Centre Court in Aruba with so many fans and people around the world watching online.

“Because in many ways I have only ever been a part-time beach tennis player, my personal goals and ambitions have only ever been to play as much as I can and as well as I can. As a result, in 2020, I just hope to continue the successes of 2019.”

Steeped in beach tennis folklore, Johnston was thrilled to represent her adopted country at the ANOC World Beach Games and experience the “Olympic-type environment” in Doha.

Whether deliberate or otherwise, it is a pertinent use of phrase as the potential for beach tennis to be included in the Olympic programme is a regular topic of debate. Johnston believes there is a compelling case.

“Those of us who play or have seen the game played at a high level believe the sport deserves to be in the Olympics and that beach tennis would be an exciting addition to an Olympic Games,” she added.

“I remain hopeful that it can happen, although, in the near future at least, I am not sure how realistic that is.”

While the beach tennis-Olympic discussion will continue, the growth of the sport would appear to be very much on an upward curve, albeit with scope for expansion. For Johnston, who is a member of the ITF Beach Tennis Player Council, the US market has the capacity to be key.

“It is hard to say what the growth potential of beach tennis is,” she said. “We see it growing like crazy in some countries while it is relatively unknown in others.

“It’s going to take time, but hopefully we are heading in the right direction. I believe beach tennis can be as big and as popular as beach volleyball.

“The US is one of those places where beach tennis has not taken off compared to other countries. People look to the US as a power house in sports, but that is predominantly their big core sports.

“The US market is a hard one to crack as a result. If it could take off here, it would help the game grow worldwide. We have to grow it from the ground up and get everyday people addicted to the sport as much as I am.”

That addiction has not done the 42-year-old any harm. In fact, it helped her immeasurably during a period of uncertainty and proved something of a guiding light. As far as Johnston is concerned, a life without beach tennis is virtually unthinkable.

The Nadia Johnston interview initially appeared in the winter 2019/2020 edition of ITFWorld. It was one of a number of interviews and articles to feature in that issue of the magazine. The winter 2019/2020 edition of ITFWorld can be read here.