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ATP Delray Beach: Final Prediction

By Nate Slaymaker

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ATP Delray Beach: Final Prediction

American Donald Young again overcame losing the first set to knock Australian Bernard Tomic out of the Delray Beach Open and earn a spot in the championship, with a score of 4-6 6-4 6-2. It’s the second time in two weeks that Young has beaten Tomic. Young will face Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the final. Karlovic defeated Adrian Mannarino, 6-3 6-4.

Young is having an amazing two weeks. Last week he reached the semifinals in Memphis and now is in the second ATP World Tour final of his career. Young has never won an ATP main tour title.

Going back a few years, Young held the pressure of being the next big star in American tennis.

“It’s tough to get to the finals; it’s not something you do every day,” said Young. “There have been other things that I felt were holding me back. It wasn’t just my game, it was about the consistency, the mental part and putting together back-to-back matches. I’m happy I’m able to do that lately.”

Going back a few years, Young held the pressure of being the next big star in American tennis. He has never lived up to that potential and rubbed many big names in the game the wrong way in the process. Now Young is more focused and ready to deliver. He is playing the best tennis of his career and the results are coming in.

At 35 years old, Karlovic is the oldest man in the top 50 of the ATP rankings, but he is also playing as well as he ever has. Karlovic is well known for his huge serve. He is probably the best server the game has ever seen, but he has more than just a cannon arm. Karlovic can rip a monster forehand and is intimidating when he often works his way to the net.

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Make no mistake, the serve is the biggest part of Karlovic’s game. His opponents have so much pressure to hold their own serve because the big man is rarely broken. His hold percentage in 2014 was an astounding 92 percent. He gives elite players fits as well, already haven beaten wold No.1 Novak Djokovic this year.

On the bright side for Young, Karlovic is not likely to break his opponents’ serve either. Karlovic’s break percentage last year sat at a meager 8 percent. The lefty serve of Young will be even tougher for Karlovic as he features a slice backhand only, never hitting the top spin shot. However, Karlovic just beat a decent lefty in Mannarino and will be accustomed to the spin.

Young is riding a lot of momentum and has gained back many of the fans he lost in his younger years. He has matured both on and off the court and his first tour title would be a huge step in the right direction. He will need to come up with some clutch returns and hard, low passing shots to have a chance. Karlovic is just playing too well right now for Young to break him twice in the same match and everyone knows that Dr. Ivo is deadly in a tiebreaker.

Prediciton: Karlovic

To see how the players got here, find the Delray Beach draw here.

Next: Top 10 Servers in Tennis Today

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