Patrick McEnroe and Donald Young Get Heated on Twitter

April 26, 2011 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Donald_Young_Tweet_Pic

American Donald Young took to the popular social networking Web site Twitter last week to vent when he was eliminated from contention by Tim Smyczek, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, as a USTA wild-card entry into the 2011 French Open. His profanity-laced tweet read: “(Expletive) USTA! Their full of (expletive)! They have (expletive) me for the last time!”

Patrick McEnroe, head of the USTA’s player development program, called out Young and asked for an apology for his comments. 

“I’m offended for people on our team that have worked very hard,” said McEnroe. “When he said what he said, it was taken quite personally by members of the player development team. I think Donald should apologize for what he said. At that point, we can all move on.”

YOung’s response: "That tweet was out of character. I’ve never been like that before, but I’m tired of it. Sorry about the language, but not the thought behind it."

McEnroe listed grant money, coaching and training opportunities Young has received from the USTA since 2005. But all that USTA has offered to Young, he has remained under the tennis instruction of his parents, Donald Sr. and Illona, which has been a cause of tension over the years bewteen the two parties.

Young has since terminated his Twitter account. 

“We would like to at least feel like we get, ‘Hey, thanks for helping me out,”’ McEnroe said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t heard that enough, if at all. I’m not going to go into details, but suffice to say, this wasn’t just one tweet that a youngster made in being ticked off. This is the tip of the iceberg, basically.”


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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