Donald Young has not lived up to most tennis fans’ expectations on the singles court, but on day three of the Australian Open he showed serious potential in doubles.
On Wednesday Young, alongside fellow American Austin Krajieck, took out the No. 3 seeded Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers in the first round. The lefty Young showed off his good hands at the net and movement up and down the court. He showed a lot less of the negative energy that tennis fans have seen on the singles court. He looked very comfortable, playing alongside Krajieck. Overall he just looked more confident, relaxed and the end result was some beautiful tennis.
Young only won four out of twelve doubles matches in 2014, with a couple of different partners but some of that can be attributed to the fact that he was not really focused on doubles. If Young is able to win another round or two at the Australian Open, he might want to consider adding more doubles to his schedule, especially if he can convince Krajieck to keep playing with him. An added incentive this year to play doubles for Young and all players on tour is the increased prize money.
His singles results in 2014 were not much better: he won 18 out of 40 matches on the ATP tour. Young looked dreadful in the United States’s Davis Cup tie against Great Britain a year ago, going down to Andy Murray with very little fight. His best result came in Washington DC, where he beat Kevin Anderson in the quarter-finals, but lost to Milos Raonic in the semi-finals.
Right now, the only American doubles player in the top 50 under the age of 33 is Jack Sock, who is still currently recovering from injury. The Americans could definitely use more young doubles players and doubles fans could use some fresh faces, especially with the Bryan brothers likely to retire in the next few years.
If Young were willing to focus more on his doubles he could start studying under Mike and Bob Bryan and picking apart their minds. He could be the next doubles specialist for the American Davis Cup team, which will be a huge job when the Bryan brothers retire. Also in his case any kind of success for Young would really help his confidence in both singles and doubles. Doubles could be a way for him not to just redefine himself with tennis fans, but a way for him to redefine the way he looks at himself.
It will be interesting to see if Young will decide to play more doubles this year and if he can continue to have success. It is no secret that triumph on the doubles court has translated in to success in singles for players like Sam Groth and Vasek Pospisil. Admittedly it is a small sample of Young’s skills but he showed tremendous skill in the upset and impressed many. Once again we are forced to wait to see if Young will live up to potential. He and Krajieck will take on Pablo Cuevas and David Marreno in the second round on Friday in Melbourne.
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