Young, Donald, Jr.

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Donald Young Jr.

1989–

Athlete

Tennis player Donald Young Jr. has made a career out of setting records. At age 14, the left-handed player was the first African American to win the Orange Bowl's 16-and-under division, and became the youngest male to win a junior Grand Slam title. As Douglas Robson of the Washington Post put it in 2005, Young "may be the best 15-year-old male in the history of U.S. tennis."

Donald Jr., the only child of Donald and Illonah Young, was born on July 23, 1989, in Chicago, Illinois. Both of Young's parents played tennis in college, and Donald Jr. started playing the game at age two. Home schooled by his mother, he was coached from the beginning by his parents. By the time Young was ten, his exceptional talent was obvious. He worked that year as a ball boy at a seniors' tournament, where he had the chance to fill in briefly when John McEnroe's hitting partner was late. According to William C. Rhoden in the New York Times, McEnroe was so impressed that he told his agent that Young was "the first person I ever saw that has hands like me."

Young excelled in junior tennis tournaments. In 1999 Young won the boys' (age) 10 singles title at the American Tennis Association National Championships. He then advanced to the quarterfinals in the boys' 12 doubles. The following year he won five titles: boys' 11 singles at the Little Mo Sectionals, Little Mo Regionals, and Little Mo Nationals; boys' 12 singles at the USTA Midwest Boys Designated; and boys' 12 singles at the Copper Bowl. Also that year he advanced to the boys' 14 singles quarterfinals at the Midwest Closed, and to the boys' 14 doubles quarterfinals (with Rozell Hodges) at the USTA National Open Championships.

Young accumulated even more wins in 2001. Ranked number one in under 12s that year by the USTA, he took the boys' 12 singles trophies at the Franklin Winter Junior Championships and the USTA National Opens. With Rozell Hodges he won the boys' 14 doubles at the MidWest Closed, and was runner-up in singles in that tournament. At the Super National Hard Court Championships he won the boys' 12 singles title and, with Denis Nevolo, took third place in doubles. Young won the boys' 16 singles at the Mary Lou Piatek Munster Open, and at the USTA Super National Clay Court Championships took the boys' 12 singles title and advanced to the doubles final (with Andrew McCarthy). Young captured three boys' 14 singles titles: the Designated Midwest Tennis Series, the Harvest Day Open, and the NTC Junior Open. He also advanced to the boys' 14 doubles round of 16, with Michael Cameron, at the USTA Super National Winter Championships. He finished third in the boys' 12 Junior Orange Bowl, and won the boys' 12 doubles (with Dennis Nevolo) at the Eddie Herr International.

Ranked number one in under 14s by the USTA in 2002, Young continued to take title after title. He won the boys' 16 singles at the Lockport Junior Open, the Clarence Walker Jr. Memorial Open, and Sandburg Open, where he also won the boys' 18 doubles (with Adam Wright). He took boys' 16 singles and doubles trophies (with Austin Travis) at the Mary Lou Piatek-Daniels Munster Classic, where he also won the boys' 18 doubles (with Porter Myrick). He won the boys' 14 singles and doubles titles (again with Austin Travis) at the Midwest Closed. Young won the boys' 14 singles title at the Midwest Open and the doubles title (with Leo Rosenberg) at the USTA Super National Hard Court Championships. He won the boys' 14 doubles (with Calvin Kemp) at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships, and took boys' 14 singles and doubles titles (with Spencer Vegosen) at the USTA Super National Winter Championships. He also finished fourth at the boys' 14 Junior Orange Bowl.

In 2003, at age 14, Young turned professional. It was an early age to take this step, and sports analysts wondered how he would respond to the pressure of increased competition. Robson, for example, pointed out that Young puts tremendous pressure on himself to win, noting that the player "engages in self-critical muttering, slouches his head on missed shots, constantly eyes his parents in the crowd and occasionally slams balls into the backstop." But Young's mother noted that, for a boy of such talent, there is no prior example to follow. She sees to it that her son has time to play his favorite video games and enjoy other adolescent activities. According to managing director of the USTA's USA Tennis High Performance Program Paul Roetert, quoted by Robson, Young's parents were doing an exceptional job with him, and he added that he considered Young to be "a pretty levelheaded kid."

In 2003 Young became the first African American in the 57-year history of the Orange Bowl International Championships to win a singles title, in the boys' 16s final. "That was when I knew I had ability," he told BBC Sport writer Sarah Holt. That year Young also won both singles and doubles titles (with Leo Rosenberg) at the most prestigious international event for players age 14 and under at Les Petits As in Tarbes, France. He took the boys' 14 singles title at the USTA Super National Spring Championships and won the boys' 18 doubles title (with Calvin Kemp) at the Interscholastics-East at the University of Kentucky. Young won both singles and doubles titles (with Jean Ives Aubone) at the El Paso Youth Tennis Center ITF Tournament, and won the boys'18 singles title at the Chanda Rubin American ITF Junior Classic-Texas. At the World Junior Tennis Championships he led Team USA to its second consecutive title.

Young captured the Easter Bowl 18 singles title in 2004, a feat that not even Pete Sampras or John McEnroe was able to achieve. He made history again when he became the youngest male ever to win a junior Grand Slam, at age 15 in Australia in 2005. "Being number one is awesome," he said in remarks quoted on BBC Sport Academy. "I've wanted to be number one since I started playing tournaments." That year he also became the youngest player to reach number one in the ITF World Junior Rankings. Young went on to win the boys' 18 singles title at the USTA National Championships and win his second Grand Slam title of the year in doubles at the US Open, with Alex Clayton.

But 2005 held disappointments as well. Young was eliminated early in the French Open Junior Tournament, which he entered as one of the favorites. Also favored to win the Junior World Championship, he lost in the quarterfinals. Still, he finished the year as the top-ranked junior boy in the world, and he won the ITF's World Junior Champion title.

Young showed great maturity and a willingness to improve his game. "I'd say my biggest weapon is my mental strength," he told BBC Sport. "I'm a fighter on court." Still at an early point in his career, Young has the potential, many tennis analysts believe, to become one of the top players in the world.