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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 12, 2011

Donald Young

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

D. YOUNG/A. Murray
7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Best win of your career, Donald?
DONALD YOUNG: By far.

Q. Just talk about the match and how you felt and how you managed to pull it off.
DONALD YOUNG: Um, still thinking about it, but I thought I played pretty consistent. I'm sure he didn't play his best today. But, yeah. I got a little nervous, a lot of -- some double faults that didn't make it halfway up the net.
I've been in this position a couple of times with a few players and had not won the match. I just told myself this time I was going to see it through and not let the nerves get the best of me.

Q. Was there a point at which you're in the match and there is a point you realize, Hey, I got this?
DONALD YOUNG: No.

Q. No?
DONALD YOUNG: Never a point where I was, Hey, I got this. No, Hey, I got this was after he hit the last ball in the net. But there was a point where I kind of thought like, yeah, I could actually win this match. It was 7-6, 1-0, I broke his serve. As you can see, the next game he broke me back, which I feel is pretty normal at that time. You start thinking about a lot of different things, his ranking, the best win.
Other than that, after the match was the only time I thought about this.

Q. What does this do for your confidence?
DONALD YOUNG: A lot. The tournament is still going on. It's not over, so I'm really -- I mean, next match is Robredo, so that's who is in my -- confronting me right now in my picture in the car, on the screen.

Q. Can you talk about hitting with Pete Sampras at Riviera last week? What did that do for you?
DONALD YOUNG: It was great. It was my second time hitting with him. In the offseason I hit with him once, and he beat me in a groundstroke game. He gave me a lot of crap for it.
After that, he told me he expected to see good things from me and for me to get better. I took it to heart. He calls it, I guess, getting in my kitchen. That's what he said.
He is obviously a great player. I look up to him. He's my favorite player. Amazing to be on the same court.

Q. You said you've been in this situation before in a lot of tough matches, but you haven't been able to pull out. What did you do differently today to pull it out?
DONALD YOUNG: Keep the ball in play. It just -- you know, I have been working hard physically. It wasn't like -- last couple of matches like that I felt like I had to go for a couple shots because I couldn't keep it going if the point went on any longer, and the nerves got the best of me. They almost did today, but I held them off.

Q. Do you realize it's been three years since you won back-to-back matches on the tour?
DONALD YOUNG: I do. I know more than anybody. I want to say here three years ago, and then it actually was a couple in a row. In Memphis I got to the quarters; I had match point against Bjorkman; and then Indian Wells in 2008, so it's a big thing for me to win...

Q. It's been a long journey for three years. You want to discuss that?
DONALD YOUNG: It has. It's been a lot of ups and down. Leo sat me down and said maybe this could be the start of my second career at 21, so we will see.

Q. There have obviously been a few comments about your career. You haven't exactly been asked to go on Davis Cup, even though the rankings look pretty good. You were a pretty happy guy out there, a lot of heartfelt fist pumps. What does this win mean to Donald Young?
DONALD YOUNG: It means a lot. Finally, you know, now that I'm starting to work hard, it's starting to pay off. It's not where I want to be yet, but I'll take this any day of the week. I'm really excited, had hopefully keep it going and not let it end here.

Q. How important is Davis Cup? Is that something you're burning to have come in your career?
DONALD YOUNG: Yeah, Davis Cup tradition in the U.S. is big, and I've been part of the winning team. I was a practice partner a couple of times, and definitely I would love to play on the team some day. That's not gonna happen until my ranking gets up there and I'm in the conversation of players to choose.

Q. How long did it take for your phone to start to blow up when you started looking at it from all your friends?
DONALD YOUNG: It was blowing up when I shook his hand. When I looked at it, a lot of messages. But I'm happy people were watching and actually care.

Q. What has the journey been like the last three years or so?
DONALD YOUNG: Not great. It's tough. But I think it's getting better. It's been patchy. I play well at times. Haven't been able to do it consistently, but I'm happy to, you know, like you said, string together a couple wins in a row.
It's four in a row now because I quallied in. It's been a tough couple of years and it's behind me now, and hopefully moving forward.

Q. Was there an explanation? Were there physical issues?
DONALD YOUNG: You could say I wasn't working, you know, as hard as I could have been or should have been, and I realize that. I think everybody develops and comes into their own at their own time. Some people do it younger.
I did it when I was 15. I was playing with guys 18, you know, and beating them. And then when you're 18 and kind of like 73 and playing 18s, it kind of felt - I don't want to say easy - but like if this is what I have to do, and I was kind of contented being where I was. You get content and you fall back, and realize how hard it is to actually get to where you were.

Q. Was there a moment when you said to yourself, I'm just not doing what I should be doing?
DONALD YOUNG: Yeah.

Q. I've got to change?
DONALD YOUNG: Yeah, every day I said it. I'll do it for a while and then see some results and kind of get satisfied again, and then it falls off.
But as I've been around like in LA in the offseason with Sam and Mardy and I saw how hard they work every day, I'm like, This is what they do all the time and I'm dying. It was tough.
I kind of made the decision where this is my living. This is what I want to do. I really don't want to go get a real job, so I want to give 100% of my effort and have no regrets.

Q. How much burning desire do you have to be, say, a top 10 player?
DONALD YOUNG: A lot. That's what I've always wanted to do, and kind of lose focus of that and think it's too hard, and if it's gonna be this hard I don't want to do it.
But it's really always been my goal, so I'm trying to give it 100%. That's all I can give it.

Q. What is the difference between Sam and Mardy's approach and what you were doing? What do they bring? Would you have redone it a little earlier in your career with all those wildcards you were getting?
DONALD YOUNG: Yeah, I mean, hindsight is 20/20. I probably would take a few less. It's kind of tough, because I haven't seen too many people turn down wildcards. But, you know, maybe not. I lost a lot of them, and some of the matches I had chances and it just -- I lost a lot of confidence in that, also.
But, I mean, some of them I would have taken, maybe not all. I don't know, 14 or something before I won one, but I would have taken some for sure. I mean, like I would take them now.
I just feel like at the time I got them, I probably wasn't ready to win. If I can get them now, you know, I feel like I could do more with it. But it was the tournament director's decision. That's what he decided to do, and I got them.

Q. And the difference between you and Sam and Mardy?
DONALD YOUNG: They've been really professional. Obviously look at their rankings. They work hard every day. It's not a month thing or two-week thing. It's a yearly, everyday work. They take it as like a real job.
I thought I was working hard until I saw that, and, you know, when you see it and you realize you're not doing as much as you can do, you want to do that.

Q. Donald, at 21 it's kind of ridiculous to say you're starting a second career. You turned pro at 15 or 16. Is that the mindset to bring to your career at this point to fulfill your potential?
DONALD YOUNG: I don't know. I was considered a bust at 17. It's tough. You know, you go through people like really wanting you to win all the time and are really behind you to just writing you off.
Like I say, I think this time through here I've had time to think about all those things and work hard, and people are not paying as much attention to me like they used to.
I don't see it as a second career, but I see it as me just starting differently and trying to give it 100% and trying a different way than what I was doing before.

Q. Do you feel less pressure on court now than you did when you were 18?
DONALD YOUNG: I do, actually. Yeah, I do. It was kind of humbling, you know, just to go out there and not win as much as you're used to winning. It's just a different level.

Q. You've been flying under the radar. If you start to come out of that orbit, are you ready to handle more expectations again?
DONALD YOUNG: Yeah, I mean, if I'm coming out of it, I'm obviously winning matches and playing well. I will have no issue with that. I hopefully hope for that. I want to start doing well and winning tournaments and more matches like this, and keep getting better. I'm not where I want to be at yet. I'm still working.

Q. When you hit with Pete and lost the groundstroke rally, were you just psyched out?
DONALD YOUNG: He was talking a lot of trash. He calls me princess and he talks a lot of stuff. He says it's all in jest. It was a different side. First of all, I didn't know whether to take it serious or not. I was kind of psyched out.
He still plays well. He hits it really flat. A lot of guys don't play flat. Doesn't use much spin, hits through the court. Besides the movement, he still has all of what I think he used to have.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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