DONALD YOUNG JR. STAGES EPIC COMEBACK, ROGER FEDERER ALSO ADVANCES AT U.S. OPEN BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 1st September 2015

DONALD YOUNG JR. STAGES EPIC COMEBACK, ROGER FEDERER ALSO ADVANCES AT U.S. OPEN BY RICKY DIMON

epa04908032 Donald Young of the US hits a return to Gilles Simon of France during their match on the second day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

For the rest of this fortnight, you are unlikely to find a comeback more improbably or more impressive than the one staged by Donald Young on Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Open.

To say Young’s back was against the wall during his first-round clash against No. 11 seed Gilles Simon would be a gross understatement. After dropping the first two sets, the American’s record in the head-to-head series with Simon stood at 0-5 overall and 0-13 in total sets.

As if that did not present enough of an uphill battle for the underdog, he also fell behind 3-0 in the third. For all intents and purposes, this one was over.

And then it wasn’t.

Playing with nothing to lose while also benefiting from a few double-faults by Simon midway through set three, Young finally found his game and once he got going never looked back. The Atlanta native twice gave back breaks in the fifth, but another scalp of the Frenchman’s serve at 4-4 proved to the difference. A convincing hold at 5-4 gave Young an amazing 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 triumph that lasted more than three hours.

“It was definitely rough to have that in the back of my head he’s beaten me five times,” Young admitted. “I [had] never won a set. And at the time I was down two sets to love, so I was proud of myself to fight back.

Down two sets to love and 3-0, actually, that’s when I decided to swing a little freer; start to push the envelope a little bit and start to come in more–just assert myself to the match. I was going to go down swinging. That was pretty much my mentality at that point.”

Roger Federer, unsurprisingly, was never in danger of going down. The recent Cincinnati championmaintained his dominant form by destroying Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 17 minutes.

The 34-year-old Swiss committed a mere 13 unforced errors compared to 29 winners and he saved the only break point he faced.

“I think now that I’m into the tournament, I know what to expect,” Federer said. “My fitness is good. I’m confident from last week. I have had the perfect preparation in a way that I had enough time off, I had enough practice, (and) I had enough matches. So everything is looking good.”

That does not sound good for Steve Darcis. He, of course, will be the No. 2 seed’s next opponent on Thursday.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 2015 US Open, Atp World Tour, Donald Young jr, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News, US Open tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

September 1, 2015 at 10:35 pm

-@Yimlife1313 STAGES EPIC COMEBACK, @rogerfederer ALSO ADVANCES AT #USOpen BY @Dimonator http://t.co/W5qtpmKttC #tennis #Federer #USOpen2015
Dimonator says:

September 1, 2015 at 10:37 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Yimlife1313 STAGES EPIC COMEBACK, @rogerfederer ALSO ADVANCES AT #USOpen BY @Dimonator http://t.co/W5qtpmKttC #tennis #…