Darian King definitely wasn’t at his best. The king of swing went crashing out of the Newport Beach Tennis Challenger yesterday, having blown a one-set lead in his quarter-final loss to Chilean Christian Garin in California.
Playing on Court 3, King looked certain for a spot in the final four before allowing the 21-year-old Garin to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 comeback victory.
It was a disheartening defeat for the world No. 177, who lost to a man almost 200 spots below him in the world rankings.
The result was also a bit surprising considering King also beat Garin quite handily four years ago when the two met in Barbados for Davis Cup duty.
And the Bajan ace appeared to be well on his way to a second successive win after breaking Garin late and then serving out the first set at five.
But Garin flipped the script, attacking the net with more regularity to shorten points against the gritty baseliner.
It worked with good effect too, as Garin subsequently broke for 3-1 and quickly consolidated by holding in the very next game.
King waited too late to make the necessary adjustment and then promptly lost serve at love to hand Garin the second set at two.
The two men then traded holds for 2-2 before King finally got a peek at break point when Garin double-faulted for 30-40.
However, Garin saved it with a huge first serve and then benefited from successive return errors.
King inevitably lost serve in the very next game, as Garin blasted two winners from either wing, including a gorgeous backhand pass down the line on break point.
King missed another chance to break when he went wide on a return, allowing Garin to hold for 5-2.
Garin eventually served out the match after going out wide on an ace and watching King blow a routine forehand.
It was a disappointing finishing to a match King started well when he broke Garin with two huge forehand winners for 3-2.
He promptly handed back the break at 4-4 by shockingly losing serve at love before Garin held to go up 5-4.
But King held easily and then watched Garin miss two volleys in succession to lose serve again for 6-5.
The Bajan ace wasted no further time, coming up with a big inside out forehand pass to win that first set 7-5. (JM)