RIO DE JANEIRO -- If youre a casual sports fan, aware of tennis only through the likes of Serena, Roger or Novak, you hear the name Steve Johnson and one word springs to mind: Who?But as the Olympic tennis tournament heads toward its final stretch here, the 26-year-old American realizes the chance a stage like Rio provides. Its a chance to make his name stand out.It just doesnt get much bigger than this for me, he said, sitting under the stands at center court here on a day when all matches were suspended because of rain, including both of Johnsons scheduled matches.The bearded right-hander with a booming serve and a hard-spinning forehand has slipped quietly under the radar here. He is suddenly a few victories away from winning medals in both singles and doubles. In the singles round of 16, he is the favorite to win against Russian Evgeny Donskoy on Thursday. In doubles, Johnson and partner Jack Sock have served their way into the semifinals. Theyre a strong enough tandem to have a solid chance at gold.To be in my first Olympics and in this spot right now, to have [two medals] an attainable goal in the next four or five days, its something truly remarkable, Johnson said.Beyond his next singles match, Johnson understands that his draw is extremely rough. His opponent in the quarterfinals would likely be Andy Murray. But having toiled first in the American college ranks before rising slowly through the unforgiving ATP World Tour, Johnson is not the type to back down. Anything can happen, said Johnson, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 21 just a few weeks back. Its mens pro tennis. Nothing is set in stone.Tennis is as top-heavy a sport as there is. All the attention goes to the top stars. The stories of the strong but not spectacular players are often skipped over. They are generally seen as early-round Grand Slam fodder for the biggies. Rio provides a real opportunity for someone like Johnson, who might have been left off the U.S. team if two higher-ranked players -- John Isner and Sam Querrey -- had not opted out of the Games.Johnson shares little with a high-tensile star such as Murray, one of the biggest names in global sports. Murray turned professional as a teen and has won $49 million in prize money and 38 titles, three of them Grand Slams.In four full-time years on tour, Johnson has one singles title and $2.5 million to his name. But he is unbothered by his comparatively paltry résumé or his late start. I was not ready at 18, he said. If I turned pro at 18, there is no way I would be here now. I had so much to learn. I found a love for tennis and the work ethic I needed in college.Little-known fact: Johnson isnt just the rare top-100 pro tennis player who played college tennis for four years. Hes the most decorated player in mens NCAA history. At USC, he won four Division I team titles to go along with two singles championships, and he strung together what is almost certainly the longest winning streak in college tennis history: 72 matches.He has probably the most gifted right arm Ive ever seen, said his former USC coach, Peter Smith, who knows something about the subject matter. Smith was a frequent practice partner for Pete Sampras when the eventual 14-time major champion was on the rise.Johnson -- 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds -- entered the wily world of pro tennis in 2012. It took him two years to make it into the top 100. But he stayed at it. Last summer, he was No. 49. This year, he won his first tournament, on the grass at Nottingham, England. A few days later, he faced Federer in Wimbledons round of 16. It was a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 loss, but it also taught him much.OK, now I get it, Johnson said of Federer. You realize when he hits these shots and finds his way out of tricky situations with such ease, thats just what he does and why hes arguably the best ever.Can that kind of match -- a learning experience against an all-timer on the biggest stage -- translate into more success here at Rio?Hed like to think so. A perfect world means getting gold, he said.Is that realistic for a guy with his pedigree?Why not? he said.A necessary answer, and just the proper attitude for a little-known righty trying to make his name stand out. Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. Corn Elder Jersey . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. http://www.cheappanthersjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-corrion-ballard-jersey . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Ethan Wolf Jersey . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Rashaan Gaulden Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Two teams with plenty of new faces heading in different directions will square off on Tuesday when the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic meet at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.The surging Spurs have won nine straight games, including three straight victories on the road last week, and have picked right up where they left off in from the 2015-16 regular season despite sporting a roster with seven new players.Meanwhile, the Magic -- with a new coach and a bevy of new different players in different roles -- have lost four consecutive outings.If the game seems like a foregone conclusion even before its tipoff, remember this: San Antonio has been underwhelming at home, losing all three of its games in the friendly confines of the AT&T Center is a ragged nine-day stretch in the first week of November.Since a 101-99 loss to Houston on Nov. 9, the Spurs have jelled. Now they have to find a way to reclaim their home mojo. Having Orlando in town might just be the remedy to whats been ailing San Antonio.The best thing about this early part of the season is the fact that a lot of the new guys have caught on so quickly, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.(Second-year players) Kyle Anderson and Jon Simmons havent played much before. David Lee, Davis Bertans and Dewayne Dedmon and Pau (Gasol) just all got here, so theyve blended in very well pretty quickly. Its been surprising.San Antonio (13-3) is getting spectacular contributions from star forward Kawhi Leonard, who leads the team in scoring at 24.8 points per game and is the teams scoring leader in 13 of its 16 games.Forward LaMarcus Aldridge (18.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game) is also on a nice roll after a bit of a ragged start to the season. Aldridge led the Spurs with 24 points and seven rebounds in their latest outing, a 112-100 victory at Washington.Were pretty confident, Aldridge said. Guys are bringing it every night. We understand what we need to do to be successful and to keep winning -- you have to compete harder. Our guys are locked in.Orlando (6-11) has lost three in a row at home during its four-game skidd, and is 2-5 over its past seven outings.dddddddddddd The Magic have scored more than 95 points just once in that stretch and have bene held to under 90 points in four of those seven games.They head to the Alamo City off a 104-96 loss to Milwaukee on Sunday. Guard Evan Fournier led the Magic against Milwaukee with a game-high 27 points (just two of those in the fourth quarter), seven assists and six rebounds, while forward Serge Ibaka netted 19 points.After trailing for most of the game, Orlando cut the deficit to 88-86 after center Nikola Vucevic hit a 3-pointer with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. However, that was as close as the Magic would get as Milwaukee answered with a 13-4 run and sealed the victory. Orlando committed only eight turnovers in that loss, but shot just 41.3 percent from the floor.The Magics lineup changes included three new starters on Sunday as coach Frank Vogel continues to look for a winning formula.Weve just got to keep looking for ways to get better, Vogel said. I wanted to explore some