Michael Russell blows away Donald Young in the first round – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
In the all-American clash, which took place on the hard courts of Atlanta, the Unites States, Michael Russell defeated his fellow compatriot, Donald Young, in the opening round of Atlanta Tennis Championships on Monday afternoon.
Getting a wildcard to enter the tournament, Young utterly failed to pose any serious resistance against the belligerent Russell, who wrapped up straight sets victory by absolutely devastating him at 6-0, 6-3. Young merely hung
for 74 minutes in the matchup before he surrendered to his dominant opponent, letting him an access to the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
It was a totally one-sided contest, with Russell dominating every minute of play to dispose off his fellow countryman. The unseeded American made his magnificent his primary weapon to ravage Young in the matchup, as he delivered
73 per cent of it on target and secured 26 first serve points with it in the game.
Russell’s aggression remained unmatched by Young’s game play throughout the contest. The American wildcard coughed a number of unforced errors in the game to let easy opportunities to his opponent to come on top. Young suffered
immediate loss in the opener when his bleak serve was broken in his very first game, leaving him trailing at 0-3 in no time.
Russell went off to a flyer in the opener, banging 83 per cent serve on target and clinched 12 out of 15 first serve points to get the better of his opponent. A couple of consecutive errors from Young gave Russell another opportunity
to nail a serve break in the fourth game and he rightfully converted it to rocket away to 5-0 after holding his serve. The American cracked in his third straight serve break to finish off the opening set in the most authoritative manner at 6-0, to lead one
set to none in the contest.
Young finally showed some signs of life in the following set and registered his first serve break of the day in the third game to lead 2-1, only to be broken in the very next game to fall back to even terms at 2-2. Russell continued
with his brilliant serve and a crucial break point conversion in the eighth game left him serving for the set at 5-3, which he perfectly did to close out the contest at 6-3.
With his victory over Young, Russell moves into the second round of Atlanta Tennis Championships, where he will face the second seeded Kevin Anderson from South Africa for a place in the quarter-finals.
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