USTA ASKS DONALD YOUNG TO STOP WORKING WITH HIS PARENTS
Donald Young, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 first-round loser at the hands of Spaniard Tommy Robredo, recently received some tough love in the form of a letter from the powers that be at USTA Player Development. Said the 20-year-old lefthander, now ranked No. 185, USTA officials have asked him to stop working with his parents, Donald Sr. and Illona (who have coached him throughout his career) and come train at the USTA Training Center in Florida. On his own.
Young – who stalled at a career-high No. 73 last year — has fallen short of the weighty expectations that were thrust upon his shoulders when he turned pro at the puerile age of 15, when he inked deals with both Nike and Head. Since then he’s gone a lackluster 10-36 on the ATP tour. And after dolling out the wildcards for several years, it now appears as if the USTA has said enough is enough.
“I don’t see why I have to leave home, honestly,” said Young after his loss to Robredo. “I’m all for coming down and training for four, five, six weeks, but to uproot and just leave and live by myself…”
Young stopped short of deeming it a falling out with the USTA, saying, “We’re cool. We all talk…I don’t think they dislike me — it’s just a difference of opinion, how I need to develop.”
Young is admittedly not happy with his year so far, having mostly been relegated to Challenger events and qualifying draws. But the Atlantan says he’s not yet ready to sever ties on the home front.
“Where I come from, the family is a pretty big thing,” he said.
Added Young, “I [want to] just go back to the basics and what I used to do, because, obviously, that worked at some point. I started listening to a lot of people and what they thought would be correct. And when you start tinkering and people get in your head – you need to do this, you need to do that – you can’t really think straight…I have no problem with people coming in and being part of the team, but not kicking out [those who have] gotten me there.”
SERENA ON CHILDHOOD, HEARTBREAK AND SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
Asked by IT what the young Serena Williams (she of the beaded hair) might think of Serena today, the superstar and world No. 2 replied, “Oh, my gosh…I would think that this Serena Williams today is super cool. I would love to get her autograph. I think she would have been my idol, because it would have been like — growing up there weren’t too many black people. I loved Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil. I would have favored myself and Venus.”
Serena added that her father did “something totally different by starting us, and he never played tennis before. Knowing no one in his family ever did. He was a good athlete. My mom was a great athlete. I think that was all that was needed.”
When Inside Tennis then noted that one of the most moving parts of her new book, On the Line, was when she was down and depressed, and felt all the competitive bones in her body were broken, Serena replied, “That’s another reason I wrote it, because I felt that what makes a champion isn’t how well they do. It’s about how well they can recover when they fall, or if they fall. And you look at someone like — I love Muhammad Ali, and he went to jail for a period of time and he came back on top of the world…I was on top of the world, and then things came crashing down. You get to see people who are really your friends and you get to see people that really stick by your side and how you can recover from that and stay strong. I just think anyone can do it. You just have to have a kind of guide sometimes and just getting there.
“Were you pleased with the guidance you got at the time?” we asked.
“I definitely think that spiritual guidance is the best thing for me, and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way,” she confided.
Serena also touched on:
TURNING TO THERAPY…
“It wasn’t very easy. But however you get there, whatever way you take to get there is very interesting. That’s one of the routes I take, because I didn’t know where else to go. I felt I didn’t have anywhere else to turn. Obviously I did, because I did have my family. And looking back on that, I realized that I could have done things differently. But, you know, whatever it took to get there, I thought was just to get me motivated. Ultimately my trip to Africa helped out, as well.”
HER CHILDHOOD HOME AT 1117 EAST STOCKTON STREET IN COMPTON, CALIFORNIA…
“I just think of the front yard and the porch that we used to sit on, the stoop that we used to always sit on. I think of a rosebush that was in my front yard. I just smile whenever I think of 1117. It brings wonderful memories. That’s where I grew up, and it will always mean something special.”
CUDDLING UP ON HER OLDER SISTER’S BUNKBED AT NIGHT AS A KID…
“You never know where I was going to sleep, so it was fun. Like I said in the book, I got to get to know each of my sisters in a special way, and I don’t think any of my sisters had that relationship with any of them the way I’ve been able to because of that. I still like to sleep with the teddy bear and dog to this day. That’s why I always have my dogs with me.”
WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO DESCEND UPON A PUBLIC PARK WITH THE WHOLE WILLIAMS CLAN…
“It was great. I love going to trunk tournaments. We used to travel in the bus, Volkswagen buses that were really old. Sometimes we’d barely get there. I used to always go watch play Venus play and I desperately wanted to be on the court. When I finally got my chance, I knew that’s where I belonged. I still belong there, so I’m glad to still be there.”
