Stepanek knocks out 22-year-old American
While Donald Young was in a new and unfamiliar setting, Radek Stepanek knew exactly what he was contending with in the left-hander on the other side of the net.
Having already faced lefties in his previous three matches at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic this week, the 32-year-old Stepanek had no trouble with a fourth, making quick work in a 6-3, 6-3 semifinal victory over Young to become the oldest player to reach an ATP tour final this year.
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“I’m coached by Petr Korda for 10 years, and he’s a lefty,” Stepanek told ESPN commentators afterward. “So whenever I played a lefty, I still feel his left hand.”
Stepanek’s years of experience with Korda were also equal to his age advantage over the 22-year-old Young, a massively successful junior player who has spent far more time trying to reach his first ATP tour semifinal.
“I think there’s a lot of mixed feelings about me out there,” said Young, whose run — which included an upset of 18th-ranked Jurgen Melzer and 2010 Legg Mason runner-up Marcos Baghdatis — will propel him back inside the world’s top 100 players. “I don’t know if it’s going to change anything. Some might [think] it was a lucky week. Some might change and [think] it’s just me finally getting there.”
Stepanek changed the pace and moved inside the baseline to attack Young’s second serve, earning his first break at 3-2 in the opening set and never looking back. Momentarily staving off a 5-3 disadvantage, Young raced in to save two drop shots in between tracking down a lob to energize a crowd at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center that was heavily on his side. But Stepanek prevailed there, as he did facing his only two break points of the match in the second set.
“I would’ve liked to have played better today and gone a step further to see how it would turn out,” Young said. “It’s definitely a positive and a triumph because I’ve never done it before.”
In his first final since 2010, the unseeded Stepanek will face either top-seeded Gael Monfils or No. 11 seed John Isner, whose match was scheduled for later Saturday night.
