Donald Young was 'absolutely not' playing pickleball during run to US Open mixed doubles final

One of the biggest storylines at this year’s US Open was Donald Young’s final run, in which he and Taylor Townsend partnered up for mixed doubles and reached the final as wild cards. But not even three days after playing for the US Open trophy, Young traded in his racquet for a paddle to compete at the CIBC PPA Atlanta Slam and officially begin the post-tennis phase of his life.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, late last year that this would be my last year, and I wanted to finish at the Open,” Young said in an exclusive interview with Baseline.

“[Townsend] said it would be an honor to play with me when I asked, so I was excited. I’ve known her since birth, I was the ring bearer at her family’s wedding, so I’ve known her a long time; it was cool.

“After I finished the mixed final, my neck totally locked up, all the stress hit me, so I was pretty done, but it was good to get some reps in [on Monday]."

Young also set the record straight about mixing pickleball during his US Open run. He was “absolutely not” playing during his and Townsend's Cinderella run.

"I went to City Pickle once before the tournament started and that was it, I won’t lie to you,” he said.

Teaming up with Travis Rettenmaier, a professional pickleballer since 2020, Young reached the Round of 16, beating out fellow former tennis pro Jack Sock, before falling to the No. 4 seeds.

He reached a similar fate in mixed doubles and singles, losing in the first and second round, respectively, but he assured Baseline that he’s not going anywhere.

He even went as far as suspecting that the team of Townsend and Young could reunite in pickleball in the future.

“I’ve got her out a couple of times; she really enjoys it,” Young said about Townsend’s pickleballing experience. “But she’s doing so well in tennis, winning Wimbledon and whatnot, so it’s going to be a long time. Hopefully, I’m still playing and we can run it back one time.”