Among the upsets was Donald Young’s 7-6(5), 6-3 defeat of Tomas Berdych. The 79th-ranked American needed one hour and 40 minutes to pull off the biggest victory of his season.
“I [had not] played him before so it was a first time,” Young commented. “I didn’t know what to expect. I know he hits big. I hadn’t started as well as I wanted to and I was missing a lot of shots but then I started to relax a little bit and with confidence from winning a few matches, I felt pretty good towards the end.”
Pretty good? More like great.
Young, who had to qualify in order to punch a ticket to the main draw, did not face a single break point in the second set while winning all 15 of his first-serve points. He lost a mere six points in total in five service games.
“It’s big for me because the middle part (of the year) was awful so this part, to start going better, is good for me,” Young assessed. “It’s in North America on hard courts, which is my favorite surface. I love playing in this part of the world, so I’m happy to do well.”
Next up for the Atlanta native is an all-qualifier showdown with Ernests Gulbis, who ousted Lukas Rosol 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Their only previous showdown came five years ago in Cincinnati, where Gulbis fought past Young 7-6(5), 6-4.
