April 28, 2011 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
In a Tuesday interview with The Associated Press, Donald Young issued an apology to the USTA and its Director of Player Development Patrick McEnroe for his recent anti-USTA outbursts on the popular social networking Web site Twitter. After a recent 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 loss to 176th-ranked Tim Smyczek that would have qualified him for the French Open wild card, Young took to Twitter to vent on the USTA and commented, "(Expletive) USTA! Their full of (expletive)! They have (expletive) me for the last time!”
McEnroe countered and stated that USTA has given Young numerous benefits and opportunities since 2005, including grant money, coaching and training.
"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 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 Youngs and the USTA. Young, who defeated second-ranked Andy Murray at Indian Wells in California recently, won a lower-level tournament in Tallahassee, Fla. that jumped him into the top 100—the cutoff for automatic entry into the French Open. But Young’s rise in the rankings didn’t go into effect until a week after the cutoff date for entries into the French Open. That loophole forced Young to play in the wild-card tournament in Florida, where he eventually was defeated by Smyczek.
