Hi everyone. Pete is currently on vacation until the 14th, so I'll be commanding this ship in the meantime.
The Olympic draws are scheduled to be released later today, but in the meantime, I'll briefly touch on Los Angeles. Donald Young got an impressive win yesterday over Tommy Haas, defeating the No. 8 seed 6-2, 6-4. The win snapped a four-match losing streak which dated back to the Newport grass court tournament.
Young is still undeveloped as a player, so it's tough - practically impossible - to gauge what his future holds. His results over the last year have also muddled pundits. After last year's U.S. Open, Young reached the finals of four Challenger tournaments, albeit losing at the end each time. And earlier this year at Indian Wells, he notched a surprising win over Feliciano Lopez by a 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 score. That impressed me - especially the fact that Young came back to win after losing a hard-fought second set.
But Young has also thrown some stinkers this year. In his last eight ATP tournaments (not counting L.A.) he's only 1-8. On the year, he's just 6-14 overall. Clearly, Young isn't ready for the big time - yet. In turn, he's also not ready for a comparison to established ATP pros. Besides what I saw from Young in Toronto, I know just one thing: he's currently playing on his favorite surface. Let's see how he does against Marc Gicquel tomorrow.
Today, the match of the day includes two other Americans, Mardy Fish and Vince Spadea. Marat Safin vs. Wayne Odesnik could be a charmer too.
-- Ed McGrogan
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