Forget Fritz and Tiafoe, for now—it’s U.S. teen Jared Donaldson’s time at the Open

NEW YORK—The first round of this year’s U.S. Open was about the young Americans who lost. Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, the host country’s two most touted men’s prospects, impressed enough in five-set defeats that Jared Donaldson’s sizable upset of No. 12 seed David Goffin was actually overlooked.

But the second round has been about the survivors. That included 17-year-old CiCi Bellis, who beat Shelby Rogers on Wednesday, and Donaldson, who on Thursday night vanquished veteran Viktor Troicki on a packed Court 13, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

The composure Donaldson showed at this match’s crucial junctures belied his experience at this level of competition. Two points away from dropping the first set at 4-5, the 19-year-old qualifier went on to hold serve and began a six-game run. When Troicki took a 10-minute injury timeout trailing by a set and two breaks—and Donaldson was promptly broken—the Rhode Islander navigated through a tense ensuring service game to prevent his once-comfortable lead from vanishing.

When Donaldson broke for a 4-2 edge in the third set, Troicki took a 0-30 lead. Donaldson went on to hold. And with the victory one game away, Donaldson manufactured another monster hold after dropping the first two points.

"It's important to stay in the moment and figure out how you're winning points and try to adjust if you feel you need to,” said Donaldson, who is coached by former American player Taylor Dent. “He tells me before every match is just go out there and control the things you can control.”

Donaldson had never before won a main-draw match at a major until this week. Whether you thought he was already playing with house money, or whether you thought he was facing the most pressure he’d ever felt with as a tennis player—I’d go with the latter—Donaldson’s performance was awfully impressive. Let’s save Tiaofe and Fritz for another day.

“[Taylor] definitely deserves a lot of the attention,” said Donaldson. "Frances played well for a long time, had a better junior career than I did, played better in junior tournaments than I did. I think the other guys deserve a lot more attention than myself.

"Honestly, whether or not I get a lot of attention, I'm still 120 in the world. That's not amazing. That's not where I want to end up. It's 120 in the world. I want to be top 10, top 5, No. 1. Eventually, if I get to that ranking, I'll have enough attention, almost too much attention.”

Breakout performances tend to yield groan-inducing nicknames, so let me submit mine: Down-the-line Donaldson. The underdog had a taste for clearing the highest part of the net with his well-tailored groundstrokes, especially his two-handed backhand. Donaldson already has a firm grasp of the shot, having the patience to hit it deep when court positioning demands it, having the necessary timing to answer first serves with stout, two-handed returns and having the instinct to go down the line when the opening exists.

Donaldson unleashed his down-the-line backhand regularly in amassing a 3-0 lead in the second set, but in the interest of equal time, he sealed the set with a down-the-line forehand winner.

“I was hitting my backhand really well, especially changing direction,” said Donaldson. “I knew that I needed to play offensive against him and take time away from him. Obviously my backhand is pretty compact. I can take it early. I can put spin on it. So it's a pretty versatile shot. It's definitely a weapon in my game.”

Given Donaldson’s history, it was understandable to see him oblige every request for a selfie, sign every oversized tennis ball and slap every high-five offered when his passage to the third round was secure. Six years ago, he came to the U.S. Open as a fan, preferring the first week because of its propensity for exciting matches. On this night, he created one of his own.