Once a highly touted teenager, Donald Young says he is much more mature these days after experiencing some rough patches on the pro tour. Currently ranked No. 56, the now 25-year-old American reached the semifinals in Memphis last week, beating Bernard Tomic in the quarterfinals before losing to Kevin Anderson, each match lasting three sets.
On Thursday, Young beat Alejandro Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals at Delray Beach. "I just focus on the ball, not anything else because my mind was on a lot of other things in the past]," [Young told the *Sun-Sentinel*. “If something went wrong, then those things bothered me. I only focus on things I can control and that's helped out quite a bit.
“I can't control the wind. I can't control the temperature. I just control my mind, what I do on my serve, competing and the effort I give.”
Young began to play on the ATP tour when he was only 14 years old. He did not win a match in any of his first seven tournaments, nor win a single set.
Young has admitted to being up and down over the years, but he believes he has been more consistent. Young has reached a fourth round at a Grand Slam once, falling to Andy Murray at the U.S. Open in 2011, and he has reached a career-high ranking of No. 38 in 2012.
However, Young believes the best is yet to come. “It was tough, as a lot of people came in with expectations, thinking I would jump right in and start winning,” he said. “I never thought so. It didn’t really happen that way. What I learned is to keep competing and working hard. I feel my time will come.”