Swiss Indoors Basel, Switzerland

[CR69] Donald Young (USA) was so close to victory against [CR9] Milos Raonic (CAN) that he will have to closely exam what he needs to change to alter the outcome of these close matches. When you play a higher ranked opponent, success depends on two things: belief and execution.  Young believed initially and that kept him in the match; yet, at the most critical moment in the third set tie-break, Young lost his focus and was unable to continue executing his shots.

The serve, more than any other shot in tennis, indicates your level of confidence and how you serve is directly related to your level of stress; thus, the more tense you are, the worse your serve will be. Ultimately, as doubts take over, every aspect of your game suffers. At the most inopportune moment in the match, doubts crept into Young’s mind, his serve broke down, and his backhand disappeared. As Young’s frustration grew and the errors mounted, Raonic regained control of the match and calmly served out the tie-break to win 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(2).