Darian King

Summary

Darian King (born 26 April 1992 in Bridgetown) is a Barbadian tennis player.[1] He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 106 achieved on 8 May 2017, and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 156 achieved on 21 October 2019.[2][3][4] He has represented Barbados at the Davis Cup and at the 2016 Olympics.[5] His first Grand Slam appearance came at the 2017 US Open, where he lost to fourth seed Alexander Zverev in straight sets.[6][7]

Darian King
Darian King at Wimbledon 2016
Full nameDarian King
Country (sports) Barbados
ResidenceBridgetown, Barbados
Born (1992-04-26) 26 April 1992 (age 31)
Bridgetown, Barbados
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2010
PlaysRight-handed (two handed-backhand)
CoachChristopher King
Prize moneyUS$634,885
Singles
Career record33–19 (63.5%) (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 106 (8 May 2017)
Current rankingNo. 907 (11 December 2022)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ3 (2018, 2019)
French OpenQ1 (2017, 2018, 2019)
WimbledonQ3 (2017)
US Open1R (2017)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2016)
Doubles
Career record9–13 (40.9%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 156 (21 October 2019)
Current rankingNo. 282 (17 May 2021)
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonQ1 (2017)
Davis Cup40–22
Last updated on: 23 May 2021.

Personal life edit

King was born on April 26, 1992, in Bridgetown, Barbados, where he currently resides. His father played field hockey and his mother played net ball and died of pancreatic cancer in 2010.[8] He has 3 siblings; 2 brothers and 1 sister. One of the brothers, Christopher, is King's current head coach. He is good friends with many tennis players Frances Tiafoe, Dustin Brown, Noah Rubin, Taylor Townsend, and Sloane Stephens. His favorite athlete is Usain Bolt.[9]

Career edit

Junior career edit

King began playing tennis at the age of 8 and grew up idolizing Gaël Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Dustin Brown (now good friends with King). He played his first junior match in April 2006 at the age of 13 at a grade 4 tournament in Barbados. During his junior career, King made both the singles and doubles draw in 3 of the 4 boys grand slams in 2010 where he failed to make it past the first round once in the singles and made it to the second round twice in the doubles. In one tournament, he defeated future world No. 3 and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem. He ended his junior career with a high ranking of 47 in both the singles and the doubles (both attained on January 4, 2010) and a record of 78–47 in singles and 81–35 in doubles.[10]

Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:

Australian Open: A (-)
French Open: 1R (2010)
Wimbledon: 1R (2010)
US Open: 1R (2010)

Junior Grand Slam results – Doubles:

Australian Open: A (-)
French Open: 2R (2010)
Wimbledon: 2R (2010)
US Open: 1R (2010)

Professional career edit

King officially turned pro in 2010 at the age of 17. He was considering on playing college tennis at UCLA but made the decision to turn pro instead. Between 2011 and 2016, King would go on to make 22 ITF futures finals, winning 13 of them. These results would continuously improve his year-end ranking.

In 2014 at the Charlottesville Challenger, King threw his racket at a lineswoman which got him defaulted. The incident went widespread throughout the tennis community and internet.[11]

In 2015 at the Citi Open, King became the first Barbadian to qualify for an ATP event. He lost to Go Soeda in the first round in straight sets.

In 2016, King made his first challenger final at the 2016 Milo Open Cali. In the final, he defeated top seed Víctor Estrella Burgos in three sets to win his first challenger title. Two weeks later, he won another challenger title at the 2016 Levene Goulding and Thompson Tennis Challenger defeating Mitchell Krueger in the final in straight sets. Two months later, he would win his third challenger title of the year at the 2016 Tiburon Challenger defeating Michael Mmoh in the final in straight sets. This would also be the year that King played in the 2016 Summer Olympics having been invited to play in the main draw in the singles. He lost to eventual quarterfinalist Steve Johnson in the first round in straight sets.

In 2017, King became the first Barbadian to win an ATP match at the Memphis Open when he won against 5th seed Bernard Tomic in straight sets. He would then follow this up with back to back second round appearances at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, losing to his idol Gaël Monfils in Indian Wells in three sets and to David Goffin in Miami both in straight sets. He reached his career high-ranking of 106 on May 8, 2017. He then went into the 2017 Wimbledon qualifying as 8th send and made it to the qualifying competition before being eliminated by Lukáš Rosol in 4 sets. He qualified for the 2017 US Open for his first and only grand slam. He lost to 4th seed Alexander Zverev in very close straight sets. He finished 2017 with a fourth challenger final at the 2017 Stockton Challenger where he lost to Cameron Norrie in straight sets.

Throughout 2018–2021 his ranking would slowly start to decline. He made two more challenger finals at the 2018 Indian Wells Challenger and the 2019 Orlando Open but lost both. He also made three more qualifying competitions at Grand Slams. Twice at the Australian Open (2018), (2019) and once at the US Open (2019). He would once again lose every single one. He did have some success in doubles, however. In the doubles, he would make 26 ITF futures finals and win 18 of them. In the challenger tour, he made seven challenger finals and won four of them. He's also known for partnering with Peter Polansky on numerous occasions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, King underwent wrist surgery which would keep him inactive until February 2021.[12]

Davis Cup edit

King made his Davis Cup debut in 2009 at the age of 16. During his time with the Barbadian Davis Cup team, he posted a win–loss record of 29–11 in singles, 11–11 in doubles, and 40–22 overall.

Challenger and Futures finals edit

 
Darian King at Wimbledon

Singles: 32 (18–14) edit

Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (3–3)
ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (15–11)
Titles by surface
Hard (10–14)
Clay (8–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2011 USA F23, Claremont Futures Hard   Steve Johnson 2–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Jul 2012 USA F20, Joplin Futures Hard   Sébastien Boltz 3–6, 3–6
Win 1–2 Sep 2012 Mexico F9, Manzanillo Futures Hard   Alexandre Schnitman 6–4, 5–0 ret.
Win 2–2 Sep 2012 Mexico F11, Manzanillo Futures Hard   Yoshihito Nishioka 6–0, 6–1
Loss 2–3 May 2013 Mexico F6, Puebla Futures Hard   Miguel Gallardo Valles 6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win 3–3 Jul 2013 USA F20, Joplin Futures Hard   Alexander Sarkissian 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Loss 3–4 Oct 2013 Mexico F16, Quintana Roo Futures Hard   David Souto 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Loss 3–5 Nov 2013 Mexico F17, Quintana Roo Futures Hard   Michael Quintero 5–7, 6–0, 2–6
Win 4–5 Mar 2014 USA F7, Sunrise Futures Clay   Marc Rath 6–7(2–7), 7–5, 6–1
Win 5–5 Aug 2014 Romania F11, Iași Futures Clay   Filip Horanský 7–6(10–8), 6–0
Win 6–5 Aug 2014 Netherlands F6, Rotterdam Futures Clay   Julien Obry 2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 6–6 Nov 2014 Mexico F12, Huatulco Futures Hard   Agustín Velotti 1–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win 7–6 Feb 2015 Panama F1, Panama City Futures Clay   Bastian Trinker 6–2, 6–2
Loss 7–7 Apr 2015 USA F13, Little Rock Futures Hard   Jason Jung 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win 8–7 May 2015 USA F15, Orange Park Futures Clay   Stefan Kozlov 6–2, 3–6, 6–0
Win 9–7 May 2015 Mexico F4, Córdoba Futures Hard   Ernesto Escobedo 7–5, 5–7, 6–4
Win 10–7 Jun 2015 USA F19, Tulsa Futures Hard   Noah Rubin 2–6, 7–5, 6–0
Win 11–7 Nov 2015 Venezuela F3, Margarita Island Futures Hard   Peđa Krstin 6–3, 1–0 ret.
Win 12–7 Nov 2015 El Salvador F2, La Libertad Futures Hard   Marcelo Arévalo 7–6(8–6), 6–4
Win 13–7 May 2016 Mexico F1, Córdoba Futures Hard   Adam El Mihdawy 6–1, 6–4
Loss 13–8 May 2016 Mexico F2, Pachuca Futures Hard   Marcelo Tomás Barrios Vera 1–6, 6–7(3–7)
Loss 13–9 Jun 2016 USA F18, Winston-Salem Futures Hard   Sekou Bangoura 3–6, 2–6
Win 14-9 Jul 2016 Cali, Colombia Challenger Clay   Víctor Estrella Burgos 5–7, 6–4, 7–5
Win 15-9 Jul 2016 Binghamton, USA Challenger Hard   Mitchell Krueger 6–2, 6–3
Win 16-9 Oct 2016 Tiburon, USA Challenger Hard   Michael Mmoh 7–6(7–2), 6–2
Loss 16-10 Oct 2017 Stockton, USA Challenger Hard   Cameron Norrie 1–6, 3–6
Loss 16-11 Mar 2018 Indian Wells, USA Challenger Hard   Martin Kližan 3–6, 3–6
Loss 16-12 Jan 2019 Orlando, USA Challenger Hard   Marcos Giron 4–6, 4–6
Loss 16-13 Nov 2022 M15 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic World Tennis Tour Hard   Bernard Tomic 3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss 16-14 Jan 2023 M15 Ithaca, USA World Tennis Tour Hard   Radu Mihai Papoe 6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Win 17-14 Jul 2023 M15 Rochester, USA World Tennis Tour Clay   Ignacio Monzón 6–0, 7–6(7–2)
Win 18-14 Jul 2023 M15 Pittsburgh, USA World Tennis Tour Clay   Juan Carlos Aguilar 4–6, 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 33 (22–11) edit

Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (4–3)
ITF Futures Tour (18–8)
Titles by surface
Hard (17–8)
Clay (5–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2011 Canada F1, Montreal Futures Hard (i)   Haydn Lewis   Maxime Authom
  Adrien Bossel
6–4, 2–6, [10–5]
Loss 1–1 May 2011 Venezuela F3, Caracas Futures Hard   Armando Javier Boschetti   Piero Luisi
  Román Recarte
6–3, 2–6, [8–10]
Win 2–1 May 2011 Mexico F3, Mexico City Futures Hard   Haydn Lewis   Christopher Díaz Figueroa
  Miguel Gallardo Valles
6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–2 May 2011 Mexico F4, Guadalajara Futures Hard   Haydn Lewis   Luis Díaz Barriga
  Antonio Ruiz-Rosales
6–7(7–9), 4–6
Loss 2–3 Sep 2011 Canada F5, Toronto Futures Clay   Sekou Bangoura   Maciek Sykut
  Denis Zivkovic
2–6, 1–6
Win 3–3 May 2012 Mexico F5, Celaya Futures Hard   Devin Britton   Ben Wagland
  Marious Zelba
2–6, 6–4, [10–4]
Win 4–3 May 2012 Mexico F6, Guadalajara Futures Hard   Devin Britton   Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela
  Bruno Rodríguez
6–3, 5–7, [10–4]
Win 5–3 Jun 2012 USA F16, Indian Harbour Beach Futures Clay   Ruben Gonzales   Kevin King
  Juan Carlos Spir
6–2, 3–6, [10–4]
Loss 5–4 Jul 2012 USA F20, Joplin Futures Hard   Yuri Bezeruk   Harrison Adams
  Shane Vinsant
3–6, 6–2, [11–13]
Loss 5–5 Sep 2012 Mexico F10, Manzanillo Futures Hard   Christopher Díaz Figueroa   Marcelo Arévalo
  Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela
1–6, 5–7
Win 6–5 Nov 2012 Mexico F14, Mérida Futures Hard   Yuri Bezeruk   Mauricio Astorga
  Marvin Barker
6–3, 6–1
Win 7–5 Jan 2013 Mexico F1, Ixtapa Futures Hard   Chris Letcher   Theodoros Angelinos
  Antoine Benneteau
6–3, 6–1
Loss 7–6 May 2013 Mexico F6, Puebla Futures Hard   Alex Llompart   Miguel Gallardo Valles
  Alan Núñez Aguilera
4–6, 1–6
Loss 7–7 Jun 2013 Greece F9, Thessaloniki Futures Clay   Dominik Schulz   Konstantinos Economidis
  Alexandros Jakupovic
1–6, 2–6
Win 8–7 Oct 2013 Mexico F14, Pachuca Futures Hard   Christopher Díaz Figueroa   Dean O'Brien
  Juan Carlos Spir
6–4, 2–6, [10–8]
Loss 8–8 Feb 2014 USA F6, Boynton Beach Futures Clay   Daniel Garza   Collin Altamirano
  Deiton Baughman
4–6, 4–6
Win 9–8 Feb 2015 USA F7, Sunrise Futures Clay   Cătălin Gârd   Li Yuanfeng
  Wil Spencer
6–2, 6–1
Win 10–8 Feb 2015 USA F8, Plantation Futures Clay   Cătălin Gârd   Juan Ignacio Galarza
  Patricio Heras
6–2, 6–4
Win 11–8 Feb 2015 Panama F1, Panama City Futures Clay   Julio Peralta   Iván Endara
  Eduardo Agustín Torre
w/o
Win 12–8 Mar 2015 USA F10, Bakersfield Futures Hard   Sekou Bangoura   Mitchell Krueger
  Connor Smith
6–4, 4–6, [10–7]
Win 13–8 Jul 2015 USA F21, Wichita Futures Hard   Sanam Singh   Gonzales Austin
  Max Schnur
6–3, 6–3
Win 14–8 Nov 2015 Venezuela F3, Margarita Island Futures Hard   Luis Fernando Ramírez   Christopher Díaz Figueroa
  Franco Feitt
6–2, 3–6, [10–7]
Win 15–8 Nov 2015 El Salvador F2, La Libertad Futures Hard   Emilio Gómez   Marcelo Arévalo
  Christopher Díaz Figueroa
6–3, 7–6(12–10)
Win 16–8 Apr 2016 Greece F3, Heraklion Futures Hard   Ricardo Rodríguez   Daniel Appelgren
  Christian Samuelsson
7–6(8–6), 6–1
Win 17–8 May 2016 Mexico F2, Pachuca Futures Hard   Ruben Gonzales   José Daniel Bendeck
  Alejandro Moreno Figueroa
6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–3), [10–4]
Win 18–8 Jul 2016 USA F23, Wichita Futures Hard   Sekou Bangoura   Nicolas Meister
  Eric Quigley
6–2, 6–3
Win 1–0 Jul 2017 Medellín, Colombia Challenger Clay   Miguel Ángel
Reyes-Varela
  Nicolás Jarry
  Roberto Quiroz
6–4, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Jul 2018 Gatineau, Canada Challenger Hard   Peter Polansky   Robert Galloway
  Bradley Klahn
6–7(4–7), 6–4, [8–10]
Win 2–1 Oct 2018 Stockton, USA Challenger Hard   Noah Rubin   Sanchai Ratiwatana
  Christopher Rungkat
6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–2 Mar 2019 Indian Wells, USA Challenger Hard   Hunter Reese   JC Aragone
  Marcos Giron
4–6, 4–6
Win 3–2 July 2019 Winnipeg, Canada Challenger Hard   Peter Polansky   Adil Shamasdin
  Hunter Reese
7–6(10–8), 6–3
Loss 3-3 Sep 2019 Tiburon, USA Challenger Hard   JC Aragone   Robert Galloway
  Roberto Maytín
2-6, 5-7
Win 4–3 Oct 2019 Fairfield, Canada Challenger Hard   Peter Polansky   Sem Verbeek
  André Göransson
6–4, 3–6, [12–10]

Performance timelines edit

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles edit

Current through the 2022 Davis Cup.

Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A A Q1 Q2 Q3 Q3 Q1 A A 0 / 0 0–0 0%
French Open A A A A A A A A Q1 Q1 Q1 A A A 0 / 0 0–0 0%
Wimbledon A A A A A A A Q2 Q3 Q1 Q1 NH A A 0 / 0 0–0 0%
US Open A A A A A A Q1 Q2 1R Q1 Q3 A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 1 0–1 0%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A 2R Q1 Q1 NH A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Miami Open A A A A A A A A 2R 1R Q1 NH A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Italian Open A A A A A A A A Q1 A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–2 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 3 2–3 40%
National representation
Summer Olympics Not Held A Not Held 1R Not Held A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Davis Cup Z3 A Z3 Z2 Z2 Z2 Z1 Z1 Z2 Z1 Z1 PO 0 / 0 31–12 72%
Win–loss 1–2 0–0 4–1 1–1 3–1 6–0 5–1 2–2 6–0 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 0 / 1 31–13 70%
Career statistics
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Career
Tournaments 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 2 1 0 0 0 10
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 3–1 6–0 5–2 2–2 9–4 0–4 1–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 29–18
Win % 0% 0% 0% 50% 75% 100% 71% 50% 69% 0% 33% 0% 100% 61.7%
Year-end ranking 1675 721 490 486 314 226 152 173 198 166 285 383 $ 629,778

Record against other players edit

King's match record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who have been ranked No. 1 in boldface. ATP Tour matches and qualifying matches, ATP Challenger Tour matches and qualifying matches, ITF Tour matches and qualifying matches, and Davis Cup all count on record.

* As of 21 August 2021.

References edit

  1. ^ "Darian King | Overview | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  2. ^ s.r.o., LiveSport. "Darian King – Tennis Explorer". www.tennisexplorer.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Darian King profile". ATP. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Darian King Player Profile". www.wimbledon.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Darian King profile". Davis Cup. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  6. ^ "LIVE Darian King - Alexander Zverev - US Open men - 29 August 2017". Eurosport. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  7. ^ "After long struggle, Darian King is Barbados' newest sensation". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Darian King — Behind The Racquet". behindtheracquet.com. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Darian King bio". atptour.com. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Darian King ITF junior profile". itftennis.com. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Darian King disqualified after frightening lineswoman by slamming his racket". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  12. ^ "DARIAN KING EYEING AUSTRALIAN OPEN AFTER SURGERY". The Barbados Advocate. Retrieved 26 September 2021.

External links edit