Donald Young takes on Radek Stepanek in his first ATP semi-final tonight in Washington.
It's been a big week for Young who's never really shown before that he can live with the top guys at this level but he's into his first ATP semi-final and things are looking up for the left-hander.
Young beat Andy Murray at Indian Wells earlier this year but he's never been able to back those sort of results up before and freely admits he's struggled to keep his emotions in check in matches. He held his cool impressively to see off 2010 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 7-6 on Friday.
In contrast Stepanek is a veteran of many semi-finals and finals on the tour and despite his advancing years, the Czech is still a danger to all the top players. He ended fifth seed Fernando Verdasco's run with a 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final win, a form of revenge for his heartbreaking loss to the Spaniard at Wimbledon from two sets up.
“Every match is different, so I was trying to forget about it and concentrate on [today’s] match," said Stepanek. “I wanted to be aggressive from the first point on. In the key moments, I was aggressive and it paid off. I’m very happy with the way I played and now I can forget about the match at Wimbledon.”
Young is under no illusions about what he's up against later today. "Radek's a crafty player, he mixes it up and really makes you beat him," Young said. "It's gonna be a tough match."
Prediction: Stepanek's experience to see him through.
