NEWS » this weekend is going to be a

WIMBLEDON -- Steve Johnson was one of the lucky few who got the day off on Peoples Sunday.It was a well-deserved respite considering hes been unnaturally busy on the grass over here, playing 10 of the past 12 days. Not that hes complaining. There was a career-first ATP title in Nottingham and, with Saturdays four-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov, a journey into the uncharted territory of a Grand Slam fourth round.Forgive Johnson for not knowing exactly what day it was in his postmatch news conference.Yeah, Johnson said Saturday night, my first time in the second week. Its definitely something I wanted to achieve, hopefully this year. Didnt have the best start to the year I wanted, but its why its a long year. You have to rebound and take the good with the bad.The good in this case is an ATP World Tour ranking that will be the best of his career (around No. 25) come next week. The bad? He plays Monday against a guy who has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles. That meeting with Roger Federer, one of Johnsons idols growing up, means another fabulous first, an appearance on Wimbledons Centre Court or No. 1 Court.Hes won this tournament a few times, said Johnson, no doubt aware the number is actually seven. Its going to be a great experience. Im going to go out there thinking Im going to be the winner. I have no fear out there.Theyve never played each other before, but Johnson will be buoyed by this piece of freshly minted history: His good friend Sam Querreys stunning victory over No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic on Saturday. According to Johnson, who shares coach Craig Boynton with Querrey, this changes the chemistry entirely.Gives everybody confidence, he explained. You see Novak lose, which is very few and far between. You sense the locker room, like believe there is a chance. Just has that aura about him right now, as did Roger back in the day and as did Rafa did at the French.Once you see him go down, I think guys will start to believe that they also can do it. So I think its going to be interesting.What was interesting was watching the byplay between Querrey and Johnson on Saturday as they completed the two biggest wins of their careers within minutes. Boynton started the day with Johnson, then moved over to Court No. 1 when the match between Querrey and Djokovic resumed.Johnson was fully engaged with Dimitrov, but admitted he sneaked more than a few looks at the scoreboard.I will tell people I didnt, but its hard not to, Johnson said. Im serving match point and Sam wins, and the crowd goes crazy. I told him he should have just waited like another 30 seconds or something, because I had to reset and I ended up losing that point.Super happy for him. God, he deserves it. Hopefully, we can just keep pushing each other to bigger and better things.After their singles triumphs, the two played doubles together. Predictably, it was a bit of a letdown, and they fell to the No. 14-seeded team of Radek Stepanek and Nenad Zimonjic in straight sets.Johnson, 26, was one of the most heavily decorated college player in history. He helped USC win four consecutive NCAA titles (2009 to 2012), and twice took the singles championship. As a professional, he has improved his ranking every year.After a disastrous clay-court season -- when he went a dismal 1-5 -- the grass has been invigorating. Johnson has won 10 of his past 11 matches on the green stuff, including that title in Nottingham, where he beat Pablo Cuevas in the final. Johnsons agile game plays well on turf; his career mark is 17-11, better than that on any other surface.And now, in his 17th Grand Slam event, hes gone further than ever before.With Johnson and Querrey already in the fourth round, Isner -- who picks up his suspended match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga later Sunday -- could make it three American men into the second week. The last time that happened was 2004, when Andy Roddick, Robby Ginepri and Vince Spadea all got there.Whats wrong with American mens tennis?I think its great, Johnson told reporters. Maybe we wont get bashed in the media for once. Thats on you guys.We all have the talent, and we all know were capable. Sometimes it doesnt work out.At that late hour Saturday, Johnson had not yet devised a game plan against one of the greatest players in history.I dont know, Johnson said. Ill figure it out [Sunday]. I have a day off finally. Ive had a lot of matches the last two weeks. Take it light tomorrow.Not think about tennis too much. 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Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer.Fernando Alonso does not believe it should come as a surprise that consistent Nico Rosberg is on the brink of beating Lewis Hamilton to F1s world title.For the first time in their four seasons as Mercedes team-mates, Rosberg is on course to beat Hamilton over the course of a full campaign with victory for the German in this Sundays Brazilian GP enough for him to become world champion for the first time.And McLarens Alonso, a double title winner in 2005 and 2006, believes the German has proved himself to be a worthy title contender in his own right. I dont think that anyone thought that the championship was easy for Lewis this year. He didnt even think that way when it started, said Alonso at Interlagos.We know Nico is very consistent and is very strong in some circumstances. Here in Brazil he was winning for the last two years, even if Hamilton was dominating other circuits. So we know that Nico is a very strong driver - and very consistent as well.He normally finishes all the races, [with] many, many podiums, so he will always be a title contender and this year he is even ahead of Hamilton. So lets see what the outcome is. Last season aside, when Hamilton won 10 of the opening 16 races to clinch his second consecutive title with three races to spare, Alonso says the battle at Mercedes has invariably been close.They were quite equal two years ago when the championship was decided in the last race in Abu Dhabi. So they were up and down that year, said the Spaniard.Last year Lewis was much quicker and had the championship [won] with good margin and I think this year Nico was very strong and was more consistent.He had less reliability issues also, Nico, so that was probably a little bit of an advantage. But apart from last yeear, they were always both quite competitive.dddddddddddd.Why Rosberg would be a deserved champ if he wins the titleThe fact Hamiltons title defence has been compromised by several engine failures, notably in Malaysia last month when on course for a comfortable victory, has led some to question whether Rosberg would be a fully-deserving world champion.Jenson Button, Alonsos McLaren team-mate and a former title winner himself, says circumstances have fallen more for Rosberg this year but it still would not dilute the achievement and if you win a world championship youre a worthy champion. However, Button reckons the possibility of a rain-hit weekend in Brazil would mean Rosberg will have to work harder to close it out this weekend.I think this weekend is going to be an interesting one, said Button. If its dry its very easy for him to clinch the title here, but if its wet it really does mix things up.It puts a lot of pressure on both of them if its wet because Lewis knows hes very strong in the wet and he can get a big points haul here. And Nico knows hes got more to lose if its wet.So its tricky in the wet because everythings to play for and one tiny mistake can end in disaster. I hope its wet and its good for Formula 1 if theres a good fight in the wet. Im sure Nico wants it to be dry, but everybody else who watches F1 and is in F1 wants it to be wet. Can Nico Rosberg clinch the title at Interlagos? Watch the Brazilian GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday, the race begins at 4pm; Watch the whole race weekend with a NOW TV week pass - £10.99, no contractAlso See:Why Rosberg would be a deserved champWhens the Brazilian GP on Sky F1? ' ' '