Quick Q & A With Donald Young

Donald Young won his first round match against Artem Sitak 6-0, 6-3 at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic yesterday and afterwards he sat down with us to do the Onthegotennis Quick Q & A. 

FYI, if you ever meet him walking down the street and you have a dog, don't stop, he'll appreciate it.  Enjoy!

Marcos Baghdatis' New 'Do

Today while trolling the grounds I ran into Donald Young and Marcos Baghdatis on the practice courts.  I think the look on D. Young's face was in response to seeing this.

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Pete Sampras Got Into Donald Young's Kitchen

Donald Young, the promising junior talent touted by John McEnroe who failed to live up to the hype when he turned pro in 2004, finally managed to deliver on that promise, defeating world number five Andy Murray 7-6 (4), 6-3, in the 2nd round of the BNP Paribas Open.  Prior to this win, the highest ranked player he had defeated was Felicano Lopez in 2008. 

So what caused the turn-around for the 21 year-old player who on his Twitter account recently used the hashtag #secondcoming?"  (If you aren't familiar with Twitter lingo and therefore don't know what a hashtag is click here.)

Pete Sampras got into his kitchen.

Young, who has recently been working with the USTA coaches on his fitness as well as hitting with Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey, had the opportunity to hit with his idol Pete Sampras in the off-season.  And Pete apparently enjoys a bit of gamesmanship. 

In his post-match press conference Donald said:

It was great . He beat me in a groundstroke game. He gave me a lot of crap for it. He was talking a lot of trash. He calls me princess and he talks a lot of stuff. He says it's all in jest. It was a different side. First of all, I didn't know whether to take it serious or not. I was kind of psyched out. He still plays well. He told me he expected to see good things from me and for me to get better. I took it to heart. He calls it getting in my kitchen. He is obviously a great player. I look up to him. He's my favorite player. Amazing to be on the same court.

Up next for Donald Young is Tommy Robredo, who in their last meeting back in 2009, won in 4 sets.  So Pete, please stay in his kitchen, and while you're there can you grab me some popcorn?  Because I'm entertained.

Post-match quotes via Tennis.com

Photo via Getty Images

Reading Room: Andy Roddick, Donald Young, Davis Cup

A little on the lazy side right now, so here are some tennis reads that might interest you:

My brief overview of Davis Cup for all those who don't know what a "tie" and a "rubber" are.

An interesting article on Donald Young and the tug-of-war between his parents and the USTA.  There are two sides to every story.

Brooklyn Decker describes life with hubby Andy Roddick and his Cougar crushes

The Spanish Women are planning to boycott Fed Cup next year due to lack of development in the women's game.