DonaldYoung
Falling in love with the game
My start in tennis was cool. My parents both played. So when there was no babysitter, my parents would sit me on the court in a stroller and to earn a chance to play, I had to be a good boy and be quiet while they played. So from there I just started to play and I loved it.
I’ve always loved the one-on-one aspect of the game. There’s no-one else to hide behind when you’re out there. It’s just you and the other guy, how much you both want to win and what you bring to the court. That’s what makes a good match for me – getting the win or playing the best I could and the other guy just being better on that day.
That’s the beauty of tennis – that my biggest challenge is myself that I constantly battle to overcome.
My best so far
My personal highlight is representing my country (USA) in the 2012 Olympics. But it was also an amazing achievement to beat Stan Wawrinka in five sets at the 2011 US Open.
My main motivation to play now is that I love to win. As long as I’m playing, I’m happy. But it’s definitely nicer to win. My ultimate goal is to win a Grand Slam.
Right now, I feel I have so much more left to give, both in tennis and in life. My aim is just to be a better person.
My parents both played. So when there was no babysitter, my parents would sit me on the court in a stroller and to earn a chance to play, I had to be a good boy and be quiet while they played. So from there I just started to play and I loved it.
Speler statistieken
Right now, I feel I have so much more left to give, both in tennis and in life. My aim is just to be a better person.
Day in. Day out.
My daily routine is really pretty simple – tennis practice in the morning, then some gym time and mental preparation at night.
Getting a balance between the mental and the physical is absolutely key. That’s another constant battle. If the mind is off, the body won’t respond the way you want it to. If the body is a little off, it can affect the mind. But I’d much rather get my mind right. Because with that, you can overcome some body issues.
My pro tip
My best tip for younger players is to always keep an open mind. You can always find something that will help you learn and grow. Sometimes that can be a tough practice.
Picking myself up after a bad loss can certainly take a while. It depends a little on how I lost, but there’s almost always something to be gained from that process. It’s easier to shake it off after a bad practice, because hey, it’s just practice.
That ties into my favourite quote: “Don’t rest in the middle, rest at the end.” I love the sentiment of that, because it relates to life.
It’s important to have role models too. They can teach you a lot by leading the way for you to follow. Growing up, I looked up to Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Pete Sampras. They really inspired me.
Staying grounded
It can be hard to keep things on a level with the kind of life we lead, with all the travelling and everything else we have to do. I try to keep a sense of normalcy by just hanging around with my childhood friends and remembering where I came from. I also just make a real effort to always remember that I get to play the sport I love for a living. That’s a true honour.
I get a nice reminder of that whenever I play the US Open. It’s the only Grand Slam in the US, so I get fantastic support from the fans and I always see a bunch of friends there.It’s my favourite tournament by far and perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve always had awesome results there.
Besides tennis I love watching basketball. The NBA is awesome. I try to play basketball when I can. But my fave sport to play is Baseball, I took it quite serious as a kid growing up.
My other hobbies are chillin’ at home with buddies, playing ping pong (table tennis) and I love watching movies. I love to get involved with the commit and help out kids in any way I can.
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