Donald Young (tennis)
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| Country |  United States |
|
| Residence | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Date of birth | July 23, 1989 | |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in) | |
| Weight | 72.7 kg (160 lb/11.45 st) | |
| Turned Pro | 2004 | |
| Plays | Left-handed; two-handed backhand | |
| Career Prize Money | $274,382 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 6 - 18 | |
| Career titles: | 0 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 73 (April 21, 2008) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 1r (2008) | |
| French Open | 1r (2008) | |
| Wimbledon | - | |
| US Open | 3r (2007) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 1 - 6 | |
| Career titles: | 0 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 203 (November 12, 2007) | |
Donald Young, Jr. (born July 23, 1989) is a professional tennis player from the United States. While ball-boying at the age of 10, Young had the opportunity to play with tennis legend John McEnroe. McEnroe would later say that Young "...has hands like another lefty I know very well."[1]
As of April 21, 2008, Young was at his career-high ATP rank, 73.
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[edit] Career
Young is coached by his father, Donald Sr., and mother, Illona, who are both tennis teaching professionals. Born in Chicago, Donald now resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
He turned pro in 2004, but has mostly won matches in Futures and Challenger events, lower level pro tennis tournaments. He currently has a career ATP singles record of 2-13, all 15 appearances coming as a wild card. He has had a dismal start on the ATP level, and his handlers were criticized for pushing him too fast.[2]
Young was, for a period of time in 2005, ranked the # 1 junior player in the world. Young was the youngest male to win the a Grand Slam Event winning the Australian Open Junior Championships in 2005. A record he held until the Australian Open in 2008, when Bernard Tomic won the event 2 months younger than Young.
[edit] 2006
He defeated Jesse Levine for the 2006 U.S. Jr. National Championship, after Levine defaulted due to food poisoning.
Young showed signs of improvement, including taking a set off of fellow teenager and 20th seed and 2008 Men's Australian Open Champion Novak Đoković at the 2006 US Open.
[edit] 2007
In January 2007 he reached the finals of a Futures tournament on the ITF Men's Circuit, as well as winning a Futures title in April. This was his biggest success in the professional ranks.
In July 2007, Young won the Junior Wimbledon title, beating number 1 seed Vladimir Ignatic 7–5, 6–1 in the final. Shortly thereafter, Young won a Challenger tournament and his ranking rose sharply to 221.
His rank rose sharply, from 92 to 7th on the Junior ITF circuit (as of July 13, 2007), after he won the Junior Wimbledon Championships. He opted to play only some of the grand slam tournaments in 2007, and concentrate on playing professional tournaments.
On August 19, 2007, Young won his first-ever ATP Tour level singles match. In the first round of New Haven he beat fellow American Amer Delic in three sets: 4–6, 6–3, 6–4. In the following round, he lost a tight three-setter to Russian Nikolay Davydenko 2–6, 6–4, 5–7.
In 2007 Young received a wild card into the main US Open draw. On August 27, 2007, Young defeated Australian Chris Guccione 6–7(2), 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 in the first round. This was his first career victory in a grand slam match. On August 30, Young won his second round match by default. It was against heavily favored opponent Richard Gasquet of France, who had fallen ill during the procession of the tournament and officially withdrew after morning practice. On September 1, Young fell in the third round to unseeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain in 4 sets, 6–3, 3–6, 6–7, 5–7.
In November 2007 Young lost in the finals at the JSM Challenger in Champaign, Illinois, at the University of Illinois, Levine won again. In a "re-match" against Jesse Levine, who had ceded the 2006 U.S. Jr. National Championship to him when Levine defaulted due to food poisoning, Levine topped Young 7–6 (4), 7–6 (4).</ref>[1]</ref>
His talents were recognized by the Association of Tennis Professionals in December, 2007, as for Young was one of eleven honored in the 2007 Century Club[3]
[edit] 2008
In the Australian Open, Donald lost in the 1st round to Michael Berrer in 4 sets. There were much higher hopes for Young as he made it to the quarterfinals of the tennis tournament in Memphis. Young defeated Sam Warburg and Alejandro Falla in the first and second rounds respectively, before losing in a tough 3 set match to Jonas Bjorkman.
In Indian Wells, he made it to the third round. He defeated Bobby Reynolds. Then in the second round, he took out the 32 seed, Feliciano Lopez in three sets. He lost to the 2007 Indian Wells champion Rafael Nadal in the third round.
[edit] 2007 Singles Results
- 1/8 - USA F1: lost final to Michael Lammer
- 1/15 - USA F2: lost QF to Christopher Gogoel 7–6 (5), 6–7 (45), 7–6 (872)
- 2/5 - USA Dallas Challenger: Lost first round to Jordan Dyke (Default)
- 7/8 - WimJunior Wimbledon: Won final beating Vladimir Ignatic in straight sets
- 7/23 - Comerica Challenger: Won final beating Bobby Reynolds 6–7 (5), 6–3, (10-7)
- 8/19 - Pilot Pen Tennis: Won his first ATP singles match, beating Amer Delic 4–6, 6–3, 6–4.
- 8/23 - Pilot Pen Tennis: Lost to Nikolay Davydenko
- 9/1 - 2007 US Open : Lost 3rd Round match to Feliciano Lopez
- 12/2 - USA Freeman Challenger: Lost second round to Doug Gallagher 3–6, 7–5, (22-20)
[edit] 2007 Doubles Results
February 17-USA Joplin Challenger: Won Title with Phillip Bruand. It was Donald's first professional title.
[edit] References
- ^ Advantage: Big Talent - Who's Next - Newsweek - MSNBC.com
- ^ Opinion: IMG, Put Double-Bageled Young Back in Oven
- ^ Association of Tennis Professionals. "11 Players Break into 2007 Century Club", Association of Tennis Professionals, 2007-12-05. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (English)
