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Ven Johnson wasn’t thinking of his future career when he first picked up a tennis racket as a young boy in Michigan. The influence of the sport, however, laid the foundation for his work as a personal injury and civil rights attorney.

“Tennis was an amazing first step, and highly analogous to what I do in a courtroom, in terms of battling out there every point, every day, and yet honoring the sport, honoring the sportsmanship aspect of it,” Johnson said. “It's very, very similar to me with the law, especially doing what I do.”

Johnson was a six-time conference champion and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Most Valuable Player while playing at Kalamazoo College. The 1983 graduate played for legendary head coach George Acker, and is a member of the Kalamazoo College Athletic Hall of Fame.

He remains friends with many of his former teammates and his best friend is current Kalamazoo College head coach Mark Riley, who runs the USTA Boys 16/18 National Championships.

“Tennis, especially college tennis, for me is everything,” Johnson said. “It remains everything over 40 years later.”