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8/13/08 3:44 PM | Ricky Dimon
The future is now for American tennis. Well, at least it is in Washington D.C. on Wednesday evening. John Isner will take on Donald Young for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Despite playing in many of the same Challenger events and ATP level tournaments and often being one round away from squaring off, John Isner and Donald Young will be doing battle for the very first time when they meet in the second round of the Legg Mason Classic. With a quarterfinal spot at stake, the crowd should be abuzz for the prime-time (approximately 7:00) all-American showdown.
Isner should have no problem handling the big stage, especially this one. The 6'9'' American won five straight matches in third-set tiebreakers last year in Washington before falling to Andy Roddick in the final. On Monday he went the distance again, forcing a final 'breaker by breaking Marcel Granollers at 5-6 and dominating the decider seven points to one. Outside of the Legg Mason and the U.S. Open (reached the third round last year), it has mostly been a struggle for Isner, but none of that matters now. It's a whole different story for the big man in D.C.
Young's story is similar in terms of the up-and-down nature of his pro career. He has done well enough to make the Top 100 (currently 99th) at 18 years of age, but he is still searching for an Isner-esque breakout performance and he often mixes in some wretched losses to go along with his wins. Young got embarrassed by an ailing Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-1 in the Cincinnati first round, but he bounced back to stun Tommy Haas last week in Los Angeles, arguably his biggest win ever. Young, however, lost his next match easily to Marc Gicquel, so the question is whether or not he can string together two awesome matches in the same tournament. He destroyed Luis Horna 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round.
Like in most Isner matches, breaks of serve are going to be precious. Isner is always a beast to break, and if Young plays from the baseline like he did against Horna, it's hard to imagine him dropping serve more than once, if at all. This one could come down to just a few big points here and there, and Isner's experience should help him pull most of those out. Isner in two close sets is the pick.
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John Isner
Donald Young
Legg Mason Tennis Classic
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