Donald Young loses to Steve Darcis in the opening round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
One of the most gruelling match of the day ended in a surprising result, as the world number 39, Donald Young of the United States, fell to the 71st ranked Belgian competitor, Steve Darcis, in the opening round of the
BNP Paribas Open on Friday. The unseeded American hung in the enthralling contest for two hours and 22 minutes before submitting in the ultimate tie breaker round, 2-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), to let the Belgian underdog through to the next round.
Being a part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Master Series swing, the contest was played on the hard courts of Indian Wells, California, the United States. The home crowd was fully backing up the 22-year-old Young
but the crafty left-hander failed to live up to the expectations of them, crumbling after a stiff contest in the end.
Darcis stunned everyone with his fiery start in the opening set. He went for an all-round onslaught right away and nailed two cracking serve breaks to rocket away to 5-1 lead. Young was flabbergasted by the early rampage from the
inferior-ranked Belgian and couldn’t recover from the deficit. Darcis took the opening set at 6-2, getting one up early in the match.
It was anticipated that Darcis will go for the kill in the following set but some eye-startling display of tennis from Young turned the course of the game. The home favourite broke his opponent early in the set to lead 3-0. Darcis
broke the American serve in the fifth game, only to be broken in the very next game to fritter his advantage. Young took the second set at 6-3, bringing the set scores on even terms at one-all.
Intense tennis continued in the decider as well, with both men exchanging a total of four break points to drag the set into the tie-breaker round. Young lost his focus in the tie-breaker round and had to submit to the Belgian underdog
at 6-7(5) in the end.
Darcis will play his second round match against the Aggressive Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov, on Sunday. The 21st seed Dolgopolov got a bye to the second round draw of the tournament.
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