US Open Tennis 2011: Donald Young Uses US Open to Announce Arrival as Star

After getting so much negative media attention for a perceived lack of young talent, the 2011 US Open has provided a glimmer of hope for the future of American tennis.

Even though it has gone a little under the radar, the play of Donald Young should be the biggest story of them all.

Unfortunately, Young had come to represent everything that was wrong with American tennis. The youngster was spotted as a 14-year-old by John McEnroe and was immediately billed as a a future superstar.

As of the start of this season, the light bulb had yet to come on. Young was still bouncing around to different challenger events, just trying to get his ranking high enough to get entrance into ATP-level events. When he did gain entrance, things generally went poorly.

Making matters worse, he found himself in the middle of a childish spat between his parents and the USTA—led by Patrick McEnroe. Young's parents, both teaching pros in Chicago, had been his primary coaches as a junior player. The story changes depending on who you ask, but it at least seems that the USTA wanted Young's parents to allow them to work more closely with Young.

That power struggle couldn't have helped his development.

With a solid summer and a breakout performance Friday afternoon, that aforementioned light bulb seems to have come on.

Young started to turn heads when he broke through to the semifinals of the US Open Series tournament in Washington D.C. On the way to that result, he defeated seeded players Jurgen Melzer and Marcos Baghdatis in addition to a win over hard-working American Michael Russell.

That tournament was apparently just a glimpse of what was to come.

Young has only won two matches here in the US Open, but they have unfolded in fantastic fashion. Young first took down Lukas Lacko in straight sets. Then Friday, he outlasted 14th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka in a five-set marathon. That included a 7-1 drubbing on Wawrinka in the fifth-set tiebreaker.

Beyond the results on the court, Young just has a star quality that can't be quantified.

He is fiery on the court, but not in a negative way. He has a certain charisma about him and in interviews, he seems mature well beyond his years.

It's easy to put the cart in front of the horse in this case, but it's hard not to get excited. Young has the talent, charisma and marketability to be a star unlike any we've seen in American tennis.