John McEnroe is famed in the tennis world for speaking his truth, a seven-time Grand Slam winner who certainly knows what it takes to be successful.
McEnroe won 155 ATP titles in his day and was ranked as world number one for a total of 170 weeks.
And in terms of the American’s talent identification, he once predicted that Donald Young could be the next big superstar of US tennis, a youngster who turned professional at just 15-years-old.
Young was very highly ranked in the junior tennis circuit winning a number of titles, a superstar in the making that McEnroe knew all about.
John McEnroe thought Donald Young had all the potential in the world
According to the New York Times, McEnroe first met Young when he was 10-years-old during a senior tournament in Chicago.
Young was a ball boy at the tournament and McEnroe’s hitting partner was late one day, leading to the youngster to volunteer himself to play.
McEnroe trained with Young the next day, and after witnessing the youngster’s talent, he said: “The sky is the limit. He’s the first person I ever saw that has hands like me.”
Just like McEnroe, Young was left-handed and had similarities in his game to the US legend.
However, Young, who is now 35-years-old, wasn’t able to replicate McEnroe’s success on the court, and he’s now actually retired from tennis and playing pickleball.
READ MORE: The moment John McEnroe knew ‘enough was enough’ and that he needed to retire from tennis
Andy Murray didn’t like the idea of pickleball after retirement, but Young definiely seems to be enjoying himself playing on the PPA Tour.
How Donald Young went from tennis to pickleball
In terms of Young’s efforts on the ATP Tour, the American reached a career-high singles ranking of 38 back in 2012.
Surprisingly, Young never actually won a senior singles title despite all of his success as a junior – he didn’t quite reach the heights that McEnroe thought he could.
The American did win 124 tour-level matches in his career, including three against top 10 opponents before he retired in 2024.
But his tennis career will also be remembered now for how helped act as a role model for the likes of Christopher Eubanks and Taylor Townsend.
That being said, Young nearly had the perfect send off for his tennis career when he partnered Townsend to the US Open mixed doubles final in 2024.
Young and Townsend unfortunately lost 7-6, 7-5 in the final against Italian pair Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani, but the duo still clearly enjoyed every second of that run to finish runners-up.
In terms of how Young is faring in his pickleball career, he has played over 80 professional matches since turning pro in 2024, winning just shy of half of those meetings.
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