Young Gets a Surprise Call for His First Davis Cup

Written by: Staff on 28th January 2014

Young Gets a Surprise Call for His First Davis Cup

epa04028099 Donald Young of the USA in action during his match against Kei Nishikori of Japan in round three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2014. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

By John Freeman

SAN DIEGO — Worried about John Isner’s ankle? So was Jim Courier.

As a result, Isner is out, replaced by lefty Donald Young, in a surprising turn of events that could impact the USA team’s chances as it takes on Great Britain in the first round of the 2014 Davis Cup, starting Friday at Petco Park.

“You lose options,” said Courier, the USA captain, asked why he waited until Thursday to announce the switch in his No. 2 singles player. “The ITF rules make it challenging to make the change (earlier). We weren’t trying to play a sleight of hand. We let Donald know last week that it was pretty likely that he was going to be playing.”

Young, the next highest-ranked American after No. 1 singles player Sam Querrey and Isner, who injured his left ankle a few weeks ago, causing him to pull out of the Australian Open, will be contesting his first Davis Cup.

A junior prodigy, Young turned pro in 2004 when he was only 14. His current world ranking is 79th.

“It’s something you dream about as a kid, to come out and play for your country,” said Young, a crowd-pleasing competitor. “It’s great to be here.”

However, playing on Petco Park’s freshly-installed red clay court, situated in the left-field baseball stadium, might not be all that great for Young. He’s strictly been a hardcourt guy.

“I don’t play on clay much,” said Young, “but I look forward to going out there and seeing what I do. I just want to go out there and play well and hopefully get a win for the team.”

As for facing the reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Young acquitted himself well against Murray three years ago at Indian Wells. On that occasion, Young took a two-setter from Murray, who was starting to ascend to tennis’ Holy Grail.

In fact, Young has opposed Murray three times, each in 2011, with Murray holding a 2-1 edge.

“Getting a win over anybody makes you feel good about it,” Young said, adding, “but since then, he’s won a couple of Grand Slams and played his best tennis. It’s on a different surface, so we’ll see.”

The match pairing Great Britain’s No. 1 Murray against USA’s No. 2 Young will be the singles opener, starting at 11 am Friday, followed by USA’s No. 1 singles player Sam Querrey vs. No. 2 James Ward of Great Britain. All matches are best-of-five sets.

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Davis Cup, Donald Young, John Isner, Petco Park, Sam Querrey, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News