EDWARDSVILLE - Gavin Young, a resident of Apple Valley, Minn., and a player at the University of Michigan, won the singles championship of the $25,000 Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament, presented by The EGHM Foundation, with a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card entrant Kyle Kang of Pleasanton, Calif., who plays at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
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The win climaxed a great week for him, where he and Kang, as unseeded players, knocked off the rest of the field, including the number one seed, Andres Martin, 6-3. 2-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and the number eight seed, Adam Neff, in three tough sets, with the first two going into a tiebreak, before emerging with the win in the third and deciding set.
In his post-match interview, Young had a gamut of emotions going through him, but most notably happiness in winning the tournament.
"A little exhausted." Young said, "a mix of emotions and adrenaline, and everything. But it feels amazing to come out with the win, especially on this hot evening. It was definitely tough conditions. and Kyle played an amazing match; some credit to him, and just overly thrilled to come out with the win."
Young went up a service break right off the bat in the match's opening game, and was able to maintain it throughout the first set, then went up a service break again at 3-2 in the second set, earning another break to win the match. The opening service break gave Young a vitally needed boost that he used to good advantage.
"Right, yeah," Young said. "There was a lot of holding on that first break; it definitely helped. Then, I was able to hold on to that break. It was definitely super nice coming out and getting that break late in the second set."
Young will take his experiences in Edwardsville in a very positive light, and rated them very highly.
"How am I going to rate it? Well, definitely a 10 out of 10 for me," Young said. "First win in a Future, and I'll definitely never forget it. It was an unforgettable experience, and an unforgettable moment for me."
Young also rated his experiences in Edwardsville itself very highly, and enjoyed the fan support of the tournament all week.
"I feel great, I feel great," Young said. "It was a little steamy out throughout the week, but you know, I wouldn't trade anything for it."
As to his immediate plans, Young will take some time off and visit home before starting school again at Michigan for the fall session.
"Well, I'm probably going to go back home for a little bit," Young said, "and recover, and take a little bit of time off, enjoy the win. And then, back off to school at Michigan. I have one more year left, and going to enjoy my final year there."
Young is very optimistic in his future in tennis, and plans to go as far as possible in the sport.
"This was definitely a confidence booster," Young said. "But I definitely feel amazing, I'm hungry to keep getting better, and to hopefully come back and win it again."
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