Young only looking ahead

— -- PARIS -- Nine years ago, Donald Young finished as the world's No. 1-ranked junior player and promptly turned professional. The dazzling shot-maker was five months past his 16th birthday and the youngest ever to achieve that feat.

In 2007, Young won the boys' singles title at Wimbledon. Then the tennis world waited for the native Chicagoan to assert himself in the professional game. And waited. In a decade, Young has finished inside the ATP World Tour's top 100 exactly once.

He has been to one final, Bangkok in 2011, and lost to Andy Murray. The consensus around tennis was that he didn't work nearly hard enough.

The good news? He's still only 24 years old and seems committed to doing what it takes to get better. The message: It's never too late.

Before the fortnight began, Young had never won a match on red clay. After his 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-3 upset of No. 26 seed Feliciano Lopez on Thursday, The Donald has won two in a row on the burnt sienna surface. On Saturday, he'll play Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the man who took down No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka, for a chance to reach the second week.

Young is one of five Americans through to the third round. He ended an 0-for-5 streak against top-30 players, but he's won only two of 17 matches against that caliber of opponent. He's currently ranked No. 79 and seems to be earnest about getting back toward his career-high ranking of No. 39, achieved more than two years ago.

After beating Dudi Sela in the first round, Young's news conference was cancelled due to the late hour and a lack of interest. This time, plenty of reporters were eager to hear his thoughts.

"I mean, would I love to be further along by now?" Young asked himself rhetorically. "Yeah, for sure. But it didn't happen. Now I'm starting to play better. Not better, but more consistent than before. Definitely. I mean, whenever it's coming or it comes, I'm going to be there and ready and happy it happens. So I'm not going to be mad it didn't happen earlier, because that's in the past and I can only deal with what's in the future."

Crowd carries Mladenovic

Alison Riske is not yet a household name, but on Thursday she was trying to reach the third round in her fourth consecutive Grand Slam, something no other American woman was able to do here at Roland Garros. Not even Venus and Serena Williams.

Even though Riske's opponent, Kristina Mladenovic, was ranked 48 rungs lower, Mladenovic proved to be a formidable opponent. It was Mladenovic, a Frenchwoman, who stunned No. 2 seed Li Na in the first round, and most of the 15,000 roaring after points at Court Philippe Chatrier were roaring for her.

Riske, a 24-year-old native of Pittsburgh, made it close but lost 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3. She said it was the biggest, loudest crowd she's played in front of.

"That's their player, so that's what they're going to do," Riske said later. "That's how it works, and I have to learn how to handle it. Emotionally, I got too psyched up in the moment."

Riske was so flummoxed, she tried to exit the stadium at the wrong end.

"Just get me out of here," she said, laughing. "Emotionally, I feel I didn't handle the situation that well."

Sock it to 'em

The third round? Put a Sock in it. Jack Sock, that is.

The 21-year-old Nebraska native tangled with fellow American Steve Johnson and prevailed with relative ease, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

In the first round, Johnson overcame a two-set, two-break deficit on the same court (No. 7), but this time his opponent was unyielding. Johnson, who finished up that match Wednesday, looked tired a day later. He was able to break Sock's serve only once.

Sock, who reached the third round of the last two U.S. Opens, next faces Dusan Lajovic, a surprisingly easy path to the fourth round, where he'd more than likely see No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal.

The other American in action was 22-year-old Coco Vandeweghe, a native of New York City who now lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Vandeweghe had numerous opportunities throughout but succumbed to Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-3. Next up for Makarova is American Sloane Stephens, the No. 15 seed.

Etcetera

After ending an 0-for-12 losing streak in the first round of Grand Slams, a deliriously happy Marinko Matosevic rolled in dirt, over and over, like a kid going down a grassy hill. In the second round, No. 7 Andy Murray left the Australian Matosevic in the dirt, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 ... No. 5 David Ferrer was a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Simone Bolelli of Italy ... No. 6 Jelena Jankovic defeated Kurumi Nara 7-5, 6-0 ... No. 10 Sara Errani handled Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-2, 6-4 ... No. 28 Andrea Petkovic downed Stefanie Voegele 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 ... No. 5 Petra Kvitova defeated Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-4 ... No. 1 men's doubles seeds Bob and Mike Bryan defeated Jonathan Eysseric and Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-3. The defending champions will have the day as the teams of Fabio Fonini and Simon Bolelli and Jamie Murray and John Peers clash to produce their third-round opponent ... No. 4 Simona Halep defeated Heather Watson 6-2, 6-4 ... No. 12 Richard Gasquet advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Carlos Berlocq ... No. 11 Ana Ivanovic handled Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-2 ... The No. 14-seeded Fognini defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (2) ... Unseeded Ivo Karlovic, the 6-foot-11 Croatian is into the third round after defeating qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. In two matches he has hit an amazing 92 winners versus only 19 unforced errors.