Barbadian tennis pro Darian King has jumped almost 200 places in the world rankings since the start of the year and is determined to reach his goal of breaking the Top 500 before the end of the season.
King ended 2011 ranked 718th in the world singles and is now 521st, a jump of 197 places. He is expected to go even higher – in the 400s – after picking up 46 more points behind a string of good performances on the International Tennis Federation Futures Tour in Mexico.
In a telephone interview yesterday afternoon with SUNSPORT, the 20-year-old said he was pleased with the way his season had panned out.
“It is going at a good rate,” King said of the speed at which his ranking was falling.
“At the beginning of the year, I had national duty and didn’t play, but coming on to the end of the year, I really proved to myself that I could accomplish my goal, which is to be in the Top 500 by the end of this year.”
King, Haydn Lewis, Seanon Williams and Anthony Marshall represented Barbados in the Davis Cup in February before King joined the tour. He won three doubles titles before success came in the singles in Manzanillo, Mexico.
King won the singles in the F9 and reached the semis in the doubles. He reached the semis in the F10 singles, retiring in the third set against the eventual champion because he wasn’t feeling well. He and Christopher Diaz-Figueroa of Guatemala were runners-up in the doubles.
He came roaring back in the F11 the following week, beating the No.1 seed en route to the singles title, and was looking to do the double.
King and new doubles partner Yuri Bezeruk of Australia reached the quarter-finals but lost 6-4, 6-4. Bezeruk also had to leave for Colombia and would have been unable to play in the semis.
King credits this run of form to a new commitment to fitness. His coaches Martin Blackman and Jose Caballero were pleased with his game but were not satisfied with his fitness.
King drew reference to Spain’s David Ferrer whose game is not to the quality of players like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but had jumped to No. 5 because he could run all day.
“My tennis was fine, but I was tired during points. The question was if I could last a whole day to win match,” King said.
“I’m starting to do weights and it is more physical than tennis now. That is a major aspect of my game.”
King recently returned to Boca Raton, Florida, to train with Blackman who was very proud of his progress.
“I train with the younger kids. There are no other pros here, so he is really proud of what I can do,” he said.
He pulled out of a tournament in California but will compete in Texas and Venezuela and two Challenger events this month before closing the season.
King thanked his brother Christopher and Helen Roper of the Barbados Tennis Federation for the logistical support they provided in helping him get to the various tournaments.
