5 Things To Know About Darian King, The Pride Of Barbados Tennis

Darian King is playing in the main draw of the Memphis Open.

The 24-year-old King qualified for the Memphis Open earlier this week. King beat Britain’s Andrew Watson 6-2, 6-3 and was up 6-1, 3-0 against Tatsuma Ito when the Japanese retired. It’s the second ATP World Tour tournament that King has qualified for, having also reached the Citi Open main draw last year. King is the first player from Barbados to qualify for the Memphis Open.

“For me, I think it’s a huge achievment. Coming all the way from Barbados, a small country, where discipline is not as big, and for me to come out here and compete with these guys who do it day in and day out, I think is a great achievement for me,” King told ATPWorldTour.com. “It shows I have made a lot of progress and I’m glad to be here, alongside these guys.”

Soccer was his first love.

King didn’t start playing tennis until he was 9 years old and was still playing soccer seriously until he was 12. He quickly experienced success on the tennis court, though. He won his first title at 14 in St. Lucia.

“Eventually I started doing well in most of the tournaments I started to play thanks to one of my old coaches who actually brought me into the game,” King said. “I dropped soccer now to play this sport. I’ve been playing now on the professional tour for five years. For me there has been a lot of progress throughout these years. So I’m very glad.”

He has won three ATP Challenger titles.

In 2016, King won ATP Challenger titles at Tiburon, California; Binghamton, New York; and Cali, Colombia.

He has big goals for 2017.

King wants to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and play at all of the Grand Slam tournaments. His current career-high Emirates ATP Ranking is No. 130, which he reached on 10 October 2016. King is currently at No. 140.

“Obviously this is a process and I’m glad that I’m trying to move from Challengers to at least qualifying at these events [ATP World Tour 250 tournaments],” King said. “The opportunity to come and play guys in the Top 50 and Top 100, that’s where you really want to be. You want to be battling with these guys. And I’m glad I have the opportunity.”

His brother coaches him.

King is coached by his brother, Christopher King, who also grew up in Barbados.