Dynamite Donald Young Outlasts Wawrinka In Five-Set Thriller

By James Waterson Photo Credit: Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(September 2, 2011) American 22-year-old Donald Young won what may be the most important match of his career when he defeated 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the second round of the US Open Friday.

The match was hotly contested throughout, as there were 18 breaks in the match. Young, the World No. 84, won the first set on his fifth set point with a blistering down-the-line running forehand.

Young broke again in the first game of the second set, but he played a loose game to give the break back. Wawrinka broke again later in the set and went on to even the match.

The Swiss No. 2 broke early in the third set, and he then fought off four of Young’s break point chances to earn a 2-1 set lead.

"Two sets to one down, it was kind of disappointing because I was up an early break in the second. For him to come back and run away with it and then go up a break in the third it was ‑‑ at the time it didn't feel great, but I knew I was in a lot of his service games," Young said.

Young looked angry with himself for squandering his chances, but he persisted. He broke Wawrinka twice in the fourth set to force a decider, but he was broken early in the fifth set.

The momentum appeared to have swung in the Swiss’ favor once again, as he claimed a 4-1 lead. But Young fought his way back into the match, and actually served for it at 5-4. Nerves seemed to take him off his game, though, and Wawrinka broke to extend the match.

"I've served for matches and gotten broken, but not you know, in the fifth set with someone of Stan's caliber. Yeah, it was nerves. I know that chances like that aren't going to come through too often," Young said. "I was just really happy to come through in the end."

Going into the tiebreaker, Young appeared to be the fresher player. He used his left-handed forehand to win the first six points of the tiebreaker against the weary Wawrinka, and he clinched the match when the Swiss dumped a backhand into the net.

For the match, Young had 43 winners to 68 unforced errors, while Wawrinka had 63 winners and 72 unforced errors.

Young, who entered the US Open with a wildcard, has had the best year of his career. He defeated Andy Murray at the ATP Masters tournament in Indian Wells, and he reached his first ATP Tour semifinal at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C.

"I haven't won that many matches, but in D.C. and this year I've had the biggest wins in my career and I put together matches in a row. It was quite tough for me to put together two, three in a row," he said.

"That's a big thing. I could win one match and not another. When you put matching together in a row against players of this caliber, it gives you confidence and you feel like you belong. It definitely helped."

This is the second time Young has reached the third round of the US Open, but the first time he’s beaten a seeded player at the Grand Slam tournament.

His road to the fourth round doesn’t get any easier though, as he takes on 24th-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela next. Chela won their only previous match in straight sets.

Another American, John Isner, booked his spot in the third round when he beat Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, and Igor Kunitsyn outlasted 17th-seeded Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Keep checking Tennis Now for breaking news, match results and analysis as play continues at the US Open.