RIVERSIDE, Calif.  – Mattias Johansson, the head coach of the University of California, Riverside Highlanders men's tennis team, shares more than a passion for tennis with the student-athletes he mentors. Johansson himself is an athlete at the top of his sport and a decorated one at that. He recently completed his Master's degree in Tennis, a unique degree that accepts just 12 candidates every two years, and recently won his third International Tennis Federation (ITF) senior tour title.
 
On the Court – Still at the Top of His Game

Well-respected and admired by his peers and those he coaches and works with, Johannson is currently #17 in the ITF Singles Men's 45+ rankings, and has not lost a singles match since the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Men's 45+ Hard Court Championships quarter-finals in the summer of 2018. Impressively, Johansson has gone undefeated in the last three ITF tournaments he competed in over the past two years and continues to push toward the number one ranking in the world. 
 
In spite of his continued success in the ITF Men's 45+ arena, Johansson entered the 2020 Wilson's World Tennis Classic ITF Seniors Grade 1 tournament with a humble approach and measured expectations. "My goal was to not embarrass myself," he said. "Due to my upcoming cadaver donor knee surgery and the few practice hours I had on the court prior to the tournament, I wanted to play until I couldn't anymore but not embarrass myself," the ever-poised, calm, cool and collected coach added with a chuckle. 
 
Johansson worked his way through the bracket, played well in finals, and was able to win the tournament, placing him #1 in the USTA and #17 in the world. "It's a 12-month ranking. I need to play one more tournament before June 1 (2020) in order to reach the top three in the world," he said. (Editor's Note: this was prior to the shift in the sports landscape due to COVID-19. Tournament points have been frozen due to the pandemic, allotting Johansson more time to reach top three in the world.) 
 
Learning & Teaching Never Stop – Always a Student of Sport

Forever a model to his student-athletes he coaches, Johansson continues to excel in the classroom. He recently earned distinctions that put him in an elite tier of educated coaches. He is the highest decorated men's tennis coach in the nation and the only person in the world with the following accreditations: United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA), Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), USTA, Global Professional Tennis Coach Association (GPTCA), Etchberry certified and International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association (IPTPA).
 
Before pursuing the academic side of coaching and completing his numerous degrees and certifications, from 1996-2015, Johansson was the head tennis coach of an extremely successful program at Vanguard University, an NAIA school in Costa Mesa, CA. Vanguard dropped their tennis program in 2015, which propelled Johansson towards his current path as head coach at UC Riverside, one of the top Men's 45+ tennis players in the world and a earning a Master's degree in Tennis.
 
Reflecting on his decision to further his academic resume, Johansson elaborated on how he arrived at this conclusion. "I went from working 80-hours a week, to doing nothing when Vanguard dropped the program," he said. "I went stir-crazy. I looked at my resume, and I had good results from what I had done in 19 years at Vanguard, but I didn't have much else. You don't know what qualifications competitors have on their resume, or what administrations are looking for, and I only had experience. I wanted to fill out my resume with education. I didn't want to ever be in a position where I felt like my resume didn't match my knowledge or skill, so I began working on different certifications, and built up to the Master's degree from there."
 
It was an important milestone in Johansson's career as a coach. 
 
"I was able to combine the experiences that I had as a coach on the court and what I learned in the classroom to actually get credited for my knowledge in the more technical aspects in an educational setting," he added. "To then be able to apply this knowledge and earn a degree from it and get proof that I have come very far as a coach is significant. I now have the paper to back it up as well."
 
Putting it All Together – Sustainable Success is in the Details 

There are technical advantages to studying the sport while playing and coaching himself. 
 
"Obviously, tennis advances like everything else," Johansson explained, "and participating in a more formal education brings you up to speed with the latest technology, latest biomechanics, and trends that are happening in high level tennis."
 
Johansson's investment and commitment to tennis placed him in a unique position, working professionally in an intersection between coach, athlete, student and teacher. He is able to communicate more effectively with his athletes because he is also still a competitor. "I know how they feel before a match. If I played fifteen years ago, I could still relate but it's not as relevant. Tennis is different from fifteen, twenty years ago. The athletes themselves are different. I can really communicate with them in detail during changeover because I've been there. I know exactly the emotions they're going through if they're down 5-4 in the third set and it's a big match. I can bring examples from my own experience competing in matches. I can try and help them execute better than I could. I am able to have a little keener insight as a coach since I am still competing at a high level myself."
 
Like any professional athlete, Johansson's success is not a happy accident but the product of deliberate practice and an intentional philosophy that is integrated into his coaching style, playing attitude, and his academic pursuits. "If you really want to be good at something, you have to eat, sleep and train properly." Johansson explains, "Everything you do needs to be committed to the grand plan that you have, and you can never cheat from it. You will drop off as a player. Or you will look back when you mature more and regret that you didn't do everything you could possibly do. I never want my guys to look back and think "Hey, you should have done more," so I am always pushing my team to maximize their potential."
 
So far, Johansson has had success at the helm of the Highlanders, on the path to a record-breaking season with a young team clinching five matches (two of them doubleheaders) on an East Coast road trip on little rest. Before the season was cut short due to COVID-19, Johansson's squad boasted a promising 12-5 record. The most important advice he hopes his athletes absorb from his coaching? "You have to maximize what you are doing every day. I always tell my team to 'maximize your potential.'" Johansson continues, "Try your hardest while you have this opportunity. This is the best time in your life."
 
Johansson continues to push forward in his own career as an athlete, looking to extend his winning streak and become number one in the world. He does try to be realistic. "It is getting more limited now. I've had six elbow surgeries and now my knee. I'm so stubborn, that's a good thing or a bad thing as an athlete." Johansson, when asked how long he plans on playing, grinned a competitor's grin, saying, "If I can reach number one in the world, maybe I will feel like I can stop and move on."