NEW YORK (AP) Donald Young kept looking up at the clock as his match stretched from two hours, to three, to four and beyond.
He wondered, ``Oh, man, am I going to make it the whole time?''
The 22-year-old American then proved to himself and the tennis world he had the physical and mental stamina to win a five-set match at a Grand Slam, upsetting 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round at the U.S. Open. Young rallied for a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory in 4 hours, 20 minutes Friday.
``In tennis terms Donald Young became a man today,'' tweeted Patrick McEnroe, the U.S. Tennis Association's head of player development.
It was McEnroe who made some pointed comments in April that Young needed to apologize after the player posted an obscenity-laced message on Twitter, criticizing the USTA for not automatically giving him its wild card into the French Open.
Young made amends, and he says his relationship with the USTA is good.
His game is suddenly looking a whole lot better, too.
In 2005, Young became the youngest boy to finish a year as the world's top-ranked junior player, but he has struggled to find the same success on tour.
He reached his first semifinal at Washington last month and at No. 84 has his highest ranking since May 2008.
I would like to think I'm a pretty tough person deep down,'' he said.Just had to grow up a little bit.''
In the third round of a major tournament for the second time, Young next faces 24th-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela.
Fellows Americans Alex Bogomolov Jr. and John Isner will meet in the third round. The 28th-seeded Isner beat another U.S. player, Robby Ginepri, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Bogomolov won 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 against ``lucky loser'' Rogerio Dutra da Silva, who got in when sixth-seeded Robin Soderling withdrew because of illness.
James Blake lost to fifth-seeded David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. At 31, Blake is talking like a 21-year-old - at least in terms of looking toward a future of playing tennis with retirement not even in the conversation.
Blake, who played two years of college tennis at Harvard, called it ``ridiculous'' that many observers had already written off Young at the age of 22.
``He can have a pretty darn good career from 23 to 30,'' Blake said.
FAST FINISHES: Americans Irina Falconi and Christina McHale had their promising runs at the U.S. Open end abruptly in the third round. The 21-year-old Falconi lost 6-0, 6-1 to 22nd-seeded Sabine Lisicki in 52 minutes. The 19-year-old McHale lasted a bit longer against 25th-seeded Maria Kirilenko but still lost in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
Both upset top-15 players in the second round.
Falconi didn't sound like someone who had just lost by a lopsided score, saying ``there's nothing but positives to take out of this week.''
Asked for a headline for her U.S. Open, Falconi thought for a moment then deadpanned: ``Hurricane Irina has left New York City.''
WHEN IN ROMANIA: It's been a stellar tournament for the Romanian women, who knocked out the French Open and Wimbledon champs in the first round.
Then on Friday, Monica Niculescu upset 27th-seeded Lucie Safarova in straight sets to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Alexandra Dulgheru had defeated fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova, and Simona Halep beat sixth-seeded Li Na.
Niculescu then eliminated Dulgheru in the second round.
The 68th-ranked Niculescu won 6-0, 6-1 to become the first Romanian woman to make the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows since Irina Spirlea in 1998. She had lost in the first round in her previous three appearances here.
Niculescu won with a high-percentage, mistake-free game. She got 88 percent of her first serves in and committed just four unforced errors. She had only five winners, but Safarova made 43 unforced errors.