Mighty Donald Young

The last Sunday before NFL Football is always a challenge for me. You’re anxious to watch some good sports to wet your appetite for the NFL, but all there is are baseball, some terrible college football games, and the U.S. Open. So I flipped to tennis and I saw this random guy named Donald Young talking about his victory and moving on to the 4th Round. He definitely was a new and different face to the tennis world so I wondered to myself, how did this guy slip under the radar?

So I decided to do some research on Mr. Young.  The story sounds familiar for tennis fans.  He grew up on the Southside of Chicago with tennis fanatics for parents.  He was a phenom by the age of 14.  John McEnroe said “he is the first player that had hands like him.” But something happened to Young.  He started to fade.  He wasn’t living up to the hype.  He had twitter rants.  He felt like he didn’t need to work at his game.  He just plain ole sucked. 

I haven't been this excited about tennis since...

But I guess Young got tired of losing.  After losing a chance to qualify for the French Open this year, he recovered to reach the semis of the Legg Mason in DC.  With his swagger back, Young is now gaining fans with his moxie and brash on the court.  His sideways cap and crazy shots and edgy play.  He is someone that you want to watch.  Now in the U.S. Open, one round away from his first quarterfinals in a major, 84th-ranked Young is looking to take the reins of American tennis and not let go.

So for now I will just watch.  We don’t want to crown the kid just yet who hasn’t proven anything.  How often do we, in the twitter age, crown someone king whether it be in music (Jay Electronica, Drake), or sports (LeBron), without letting them come into their own first.   And for right now, it doesn’t look like Young wants to be crowned either.  He is just looking for a second chance for a phenom that was suppose to have it all.

So before you become engrossed in football this weekend, take some time to check out Donald Young’s game.  This may be his coming out party, or he can fade away just like the last couple of years have gone.  But whatever Young does, it will be sure to be dynamic.  For more on Donald Young check out this fantastic story.