Way back in 2011, Donald Young and Stanislas Wawrinka met at the U.S. Open, and it all boiled down to one, single, winner-take-all tiebreaker. It had been a rollicking affair throughout the day, a vehemently pro-American, Court 17 crowd living and dying with every winner and unforced error that flew from Young's racquet. The New York heat was suffocating, and after well over 4 hours of dealing with the brutal conditions - and giving up a break advantage in the 5th - the 14th-seeded Wawrinka could not muster much of a fight in the closing round, managing only one point in the deciding breaker. There would be no repeat of his 2010 QF run in Queens - his best ever showing at a major - only bitter disappointment. Meanwhile, Young had bagged the biggest win of his still promising career, and it was absolute bedlam out on 17.
Things have changed just a bit since then. For one, hardly anybody refers to Wawrinka by the name of "Stanislas", anymore. Just "Stan" will do, because the Swiss is now a certified superstar, and this tends to put tennis players on a catchy, one-name basis with the world. He also goes by "Stan the Man", or "Stanimal". Can't argue those monikers, either. You go through Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, and Rafael Nadal to win an Australian Open, and, yeah, you are the man. You come back from a set down to deny a bloodthirsty Djokovic the Slam he covets so much - Roland Garros - and you just may be part animal. Wawrinka did something else, though, en route to the 2015 French Open title that forced people to look at him through a completely different lens: he absolutely wiped Court Suzanne Lenglen with Roger Federer in their Quarterfinal matchup. Shadows cannot and do not loom any larger than the ones cast over Wawrinka by Swiss countryman, friend, and Davis Cup teammate Federer, but through titanic effort and fortitude, Stan has finally carved out his own, considerable niche in tennis history. Well, there is the talent, too....no human being has ever struck a backhand in quite the manner that Stan Wawrinka strikes a backhand. Now, the Open's 5-seed is one of the chosen few on tour who can play with no other thought on his mind than to build upon a legacy, and Donald Young is right in the middle of that process.
Donald Young's career path has not followed the same trajectory since 2011, to put it mildly. He's been ranked as high as #38, and dipped as low as #202. On the ATP Tour, those two numbers may as well represent two different worlds. #38 has a player basking in the sun of Indian Wells and Monte Carlo, while #202 forces him to fight for survival in Savannah and Tallahassee. Did Donald Young appreciate either of those worlds while he inhabited them? Probably not, but DY seems to have at least emerged from the journey with a clear understanding that his tennis can only give what it gets. He says he's put in some hard yards to improve his fitness, but - more importantly - that he still has a long way to go. That sounds like a man with a long-term plan to stick around. But Young knows exactly what type of opportunity is in front of him, today, right now, as well. He's also proven he can take advantage of it.
So, here we go again, Young against Wawrinka at the Open. The rematch gets played on Ashe, and we can only hope the Big House reaches the decibel levels registered on Court 17, 4 years ago.
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