NEW YORK –- Friends for years, Taylor Townsend and Donald Young share some unusual qualities. They’re both from Chicago, both Black left-handed professional tennis players with infectious personalities.

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When Young, now 35, decided it was time to retire, he had one wish: Going out in style playing mixed doubles with Townsend at the US Open. Townsend, repaying a long-standing debt, passed on the typical gold watch and said yes.

“I was like, `You’re the reason I believed I could play any sort of pro tennis,’ ” Townsend explained. “He said he was training for this, and I said, `You better be. I’m going to show out, but I can’t carry the both of us.’ ”

On Thursday, the team of Young and Townsend forced the opening set of the mixed doubles final to a tiebreak, but eventually the third-seeded Italian team of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori prevailed 7-6 (0), 7-5.

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For the 37-year-old Errani, it was the sixth Grand Slam doubles title -- and the first in a decade -- after winning five with Roberta Vinci from 2012-14.

“To share this moment with Andrea is so special,” Errani said. “I know Donald, we played juniors together. Congrats for your career, Donald.”

The win was another in a year of resurgent success for former doubles No.1, who captured the WTA 1000 title on home soil in Rome and Olympic gold in Paris, both with Paolini, to complete the Career Golden Slam in doubles.

Vavassori, who like Young was looking for his first major title, was a finalist this year at the Australian Open and Roland Garros with partner Simone Bolelli. He can now call himself a Grand Slam champion.

“Very special, a dream come true for me,” Vavassori said. “Accomplishing this with Sara, an amazing person, amazing player. Donald, congrats for your career. I watched you growing up.

“To my team, we did it, we won a Grand Slam. It’s amazing.”

The Italians, who saved a match point in their first-round match against Shelby Rogers and Robert Galloway, were more aggressive and, ultimately, more successful at the net. That difference propelled them in the first-set tiebreak with Vavassori, in particular, causing havoc.

Down 1-4 in the second set, the Americans broke Errani to steer it back on serve. But with Townsend serving at 5-6, they fell into a love-40 hole. They saved two match points but not the third -- when Townsend’s backhand found the net.

This match, however, will be remembered as Young’s finale.

“This isn’t the trophy that we wanted,” Townsend said at the trophy ceremony. “But at the end of the day, I’m the only Black woman left in the tournament. And ultimately, I just hope that Donald and I standing here today, Frances [Tiafoe] in the semifinals, Coco [Gauff] being the defending champion, just shows people that look like us that it’s possible.

“Standing here today with Donald means the world to me because he’s been in my life forever. I don’t honestly know if I’d be here today if it wasn’t for him and his family.”

His record in ATP Tour matches was 124-190 -- including three wins against Top 10 opponents -- and his highest ranking was No.38. He won over $4 million in prize money and reached two finals. Young was a terrific junior, winning the 2003 Orange Bowl 16-under title and, at 15, the 2005 Australian Open junior singles title.

But his most important contribution was serving as an example for young Black athletes contemplating the daunting challenges of a sport that, for many years, was largely indifferent to people of color.

Young had a profound influence on Townsend and Christopher Eubanks, who spent time traveling the globe as Young’s hitting partner.

“He’s the reason that I felt like it was possible because I could do this," Townsend said earlier in the tournament. “He’d come back after winning Junior Wimbledon or Junior Australian Open and I’m like, 'Let me see your trophy, let me touch it.’

“So to be able to just have that close to you or even to be able to see it, you don’t know how powerful that is, and you don’t know what doors that opens up for anybody.”

Eubanks told the ATP Tour website that Young’s career meant everything to him.

“He gave me the opportunity just to train with him every day, which was a privilege in itself,” Eubanks said. “But not only that, he allowed me to see the world with him and see it from the perspective of a professional tennis player.

“In so many ways, he instilled so much confidence that I could actually do it.”

Townsend, coached by Young's parents Illona and Donald, Sr., became a junior champion herself, winning the singles and doubles title at the 2012 Australian Open and finishing the year as the No.1-ranked junior.

Townsend, 28 and a mother of three-year-old son Adyn Aubrey, is in the midst of the best year of her career. She’s won three doubles titles this year – with three different partners: Adelaide (Beatriz Haddad Maia), Wimbledon (Katerina Siniakova) and Washington, D.C. (Asia Muhammad). Townsend is No.8 in the PIF Doubles rankings, with a chance to play in the WTA Finals in Riyadh with Siniakova.

She rose to a career-high singles ranking of No.46 last month and, after qualifying, reached the quarterfinals and Round of 16, respectively, in the WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

“We came a step short,” Young said, “but it’s a dream come true for me. Taylor’s like a little sister. To play with her in the final of US Open is great.”