Sports
In his final match before retirement, Donald Young could win the US Open title against friend Taylor Townsend
NEW YORK (AP) — Ever since Taylor Townsend held a racket in her hand, Donald Young and his family have been a component of her life.
Initially, she hit the racket along with her right hand, but because of Young’s influence, she began swinging along with her left hand, like him.
Young’s mother played doubles with Townsend’s mother. His father was Townsend’s first coach. And it was Young, a black Chicagoan, who made Townsend imagine a profession as knowledgeable tennis player was possible.
That’s why it is so vital that it will possibly help him end his profession as a Grand Slam champion.
Young and Townsend have advanced to the US Open mixed doubles final, which can be Young’s last match before retiring from tennis at the age of 35.
“It’s a decision, I’m happy with it and I hope to go again. It will be a dream come true and a fairytale ending,” Young said.
They beat No. 8 seed Aldila Sutjiadi and Rohan Bopanna 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday night in the semifinals. Afterward, Townsend, 28, told fans she wouldn’t have been on court in front of them at Louis Armstrong Stadium if not for Young’s influence.
He was the top junior player in 2005, a 12 months after turning pro, and a hoop bearer at Townsend’s parents’ wedding, he has emerged as considered one of the young stars of American men’s tennis.
“Winning the junior Wimbledon, the junior Australian Open, going on tour, making my breakthrough on tour, and then coming home and being able to share that accomplishment with us and being able to see it all, that was the closest I’ve ever been to being around anyone who’s done it at that level,” Townsend said.
“So when he asked me to play, I just felt honored to be able to close that book for him because he kind of opened it for me.”
Townsend, like Young, rose to the top of the junior rankings, winning the junior singles and doubles at the 2012 Australian Open and becoming the first American woman in three many years to finish the 12 months with the No. 1 junior world rating.
However, in the following years they each experienced difficult times while touring.
Young climbed to his profession high of 38 in 2012, but a 17-game losing streak sent him tumbling. That same 12 months Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Tennis Association coaches felt that the then 16-year-old Townsend needed to work on her form, and as an alternative of covering the cost of her participation in considered one of the organized tournaments, they sent her to a training center in Florida.
But whilst they struggled, Young and Townsend gave hope to others. Townsend said she recently bumped into Young at a club where they used to play, and it was moving to see so many black kids looking as much as her, just as she looked as much as Young.
“It’s amazing because it really shows that we’re headed in the right direction,” Townsend said. “And for me personally, from my experience, seeing that and being able to have a visual representation, seeing something that looked like me, that acted like me or that I could relate to in some way, shape or form, gave me a little bit of hope that you can do that too.”
Townsend’s profession has been on a roll since she returned to the tour in 2022 after giving birth to her son. She has cracked the top 50 in singles and is even higher in doubles, winning the Wimbledon title in July with Katerina SiniakovaThey placed third in Flushing Meadows and reached the semi-finals.
Young never quite reached the level of stardom some predicted. He hasn’t won a match on tour since 2021 and doesn’t even play on it anymore, having moved on to skilled pickleball.
The USTA gave them a wild card into the mixed doubles draw to send Young off, and the duo made the most of it. With two lefties on the court, they’re a troublesome team to play against, forcing opponents to search out angles which might be easier to search out against righties.
Young is definitely right-handed, using that hand for eating and writing, but plays tennis left-handed. Townsend also began playing right-handed, imitating her older sister, before training with Donald Young Sr. She had trouble keeping her balance while moving, and Illona Young really helpful that she try playing left-handed, like her son.
“So from that point on, we started drilling everything on the left side,” Townsend said, “and here we are.”
On Thursday, she and Young will face the No. 3 seeded Italian team of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, a likelihood so as to add a brand new memory to the ones they already share.
“Either way, I’m really excited and happy to be able to share this with someone really close to me, like family, again,” Young said.