If there’s a tennis equivalent to the so-called “bonus baby,” that archaic label once applied to baseball phenoms who as teens inked eye-popping contracts, many of them still unproven commodities, it’s Donald Young.
A fiercely talented left-hander who first picked up a racquet at age three, the Chicago-born Young turned heads early on. After winning the Orange Bowl 16s in 2003, the first American to do so since Hall of Famer Jim Courier in 1986, he would become the youngest-ever, year-end No. 1 in the ITF rankings. Agents hovered. The racquet companies and the shoe and apparel brands lined up to back him. By 2004, Young, then just 15, had turned pro.
Success didn’t come overnight for the prodigy. In fact, he lost his first nine matches at the ATP Tour level without so much as winning a set. Playing in the spotlight, there was plenty of scrutiny and plenty of second-guessing by many across the sports world, including those of us in the media. Had he been mishandled? Had he been rushed along too quickly?
But Young would indeed have his day(s). There was the time, of course, that he stunned 14th-ranked Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, 7-6(7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), en route to the Round of 16 at the US Open in 2011. (He would reach a career-high No. 38 the following year.) And the time he again reached the Round of 16 in New York in 2015, famously storming back from two sets down to oust Serb Viktor Troicki, 4-6, 0-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-4, in the final match played on the old Grandstand court at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. And so on.
Now 35, Young recently announced that he is hanging up his racquets. (Well, trading them in for pickleball paddles anyway.) But not before one last go at the US Open, where he is teaming up with longtime friend Taylor Townsend in mixed doubles.
USOpen.org caught up with Young between matches:
How does it feel to be back on the courts here at the US Open, teaming up with Taylor in the mixed?
Great. It’s been a long time. I’ve been watching it on TV the last few years. They were nice enough to let me play one last time. To play with Taylor, it’s awesome. It’s kind of a full-circle moment for me.
When you think about your favorite moments in your career, what jumps to mind first?
Most of them are here, to be honest. Beating Stan in five sets, 7-6 in the fifth, was pretty cool. That was the first year of [Stadium] 17. That was really my first big breakthrough win. Coming back from two-sets-to-love against [Viktor] Troicki, the last match in the Grandstand was really nice. Getting my first-ever Slam win here on Court 7 when I was 18 was really cool. There’s been a lot of fun times here. Just enjoying it and being with family and friends. It’s a tournament I grew up wanting to play. To have had some good wins here was amazing.
What played into your decision to retire from the tour?
In 2019, I played the qualies here. In 2020, they didn’t have qualifying [due to the global pandemic]. Then I tore up my left wrist in 2022, and that derailed me for a while. There weren’t many tournaments in the States in 2021, 2022. It was rough. The timing wasn’t great. It was kind of hard to bounce back. I’ve found pickleball now. I’ve been playing pro pickleball. It was kind of a new start, something fresh. It was a good opportunity. I couldn’t pass it up.
When you watch the game now, I imagine there’s a piece of you that says, “I can still play; I can hit with that guy.”
That’s interesting, because there’s a lot of guys still playing that I’ve beaten or played doubles with. Right time, right place, and things kind of fell in place for them when COVID happened. For me, it didn’t happen that way. It just kind of made it tougher. I always think I can still play with the guys, but it’s a lot easier watching than actually getting out there and playing. Would I like to play? For sure, but God put something else in front of me and I feel excited about it.
What is the Donald Young story?
Looking at it as an adult, there are things you wish you would have done: some different training, not taking some wildcards, done some stuff differently. On the other hand, if I was to talk to the 12-year-old me and show him everything I did, he would be really excited about it. That’s how I’ve chosen to look at it. If you talked to the kid-me about everything I have done, he would think it was the best thing in the world. That kind of humbles and excites me. In that sense, you put everything in perspective. I met people I never would have met, traveled the world, made some good money, changed my family’s lives. It’s pretty cool. Hindsight is 20-20 for everything. You could do it differently. But, again, if you told 12-year-old me that he could do all this, he would have taken it any day of the week.
"I met people I never would have met, traveled the world, made some good money, changed my family’s lives."
How did you view the marquee matchup between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe in Arthur Ashe Stadium?
It was just awesome to see. It’s great to see Foe and Ben out there grinding and playing well. Especially two African American guys, to be at the top of the game, the support I see. They can really show their emotions, their personality. It’s just great for the game. I’m really excited about their futures. It’s a great time for them. I think there are going to be many more.
The U.S. has five guys in the Top 20 right now for the first time since 1996 in Ben, Frances, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Sebastian Korda. How close are you to that group?
Fritz, I know well. I’ve trained with him in L.A. a little bit. Tommy, I played him a couple of times. Ben, I knew his dad [former ATP pro Bryan Shelton] when he was coaching the women’s team at Georgia Tech because I was training there all the time. Frances has stayed at my house. We’ve played doubles; we’ve hung out; we’ve had a lot of good times. I know these guys quite well. Not as much in the last few years because I haven’t been around them, but we keep in touch on Instagram or whatever. I’m just excited to see them doing great. As soon as I turn on the TV, I want them to win. Those are my guys, for sure.
Could you see yourself mentoring, coaching a player?
Christopher Eubanks is a guy I brought around when I was playing. He was my hitting partner for a time. He was, like, 15. So I kind of did that with him and got a taste. But I love helping out the youth, the next generation, just paying it forward.
