Behind The Racquet • Shares A Behind The Scenes With Tennis 10sBalls • ATP’s Darian King

 

Editor’s note: 10sBalls thanks Noah Rubin for giving us permission to repost these great stories. We wish him and this endeavor the best of luck. Great seeing Noah wearing K-Swiss and playing Solinco Strings.

 

“2010 was one the best and worst years of my life. I became the first tennis player to represent Barbados at a junior Grand Slam event. I played junior French Open, Wimbledon and US Open and was the 47th ranked junior in the world. After the US Open I had to make the big decision of going to college or turning professional. However, things took a turn for the worst when I was in Barbados on break and, out of nowhere, my mother was rushed to the hospital. I lost my mother that night as she succumbed to a battle with pancreatic cancer. This was a total surprise to us (my brothers and sister) because my mother nor father ever told us about the illness. So losing my mother came as a bit of surprise, even though we knew she wasn’t 100%. Now my decision to turn pro or go to college became even harder. I was heavily recruited by UCLA, but my heart was always telling me to turn pro. However, the first couple years of turning pro was very tough. While traveling alone and staying in hotel rooms the thought of losing my mother at age 17, constantly kept creeping in. I battled the thoughts of quitting many times. My road to becoming an ATP professional was not easy and coming from a small country like Barbados, where tennis isn’t a big sport, was pretty tough. I don’t receive Wildcards and finding funding each year to stay on tour is a battle. It’s sometimes quite hard to see guys I battle with on tour playing in bigger events due to them receiving wildcards and support from their larger federations. In 2017 I became the first person to represent Barbados at a Grand Slam event and in 2016, in Rio, I became the first Barbadian to play tennis at the Olympics. I have represented my country all over the world and I have made history for my country in the tennis world. I hope I have made my mother, family, friends and country proud of me.” -Darian King

 

****

 

You can follow Darian King on the links below:

Facebook | Darian King

Twitter | @darianking20

Instagram | @tennisdarian

You can check out more Behind The Racquet stories on the link below:

Facebook | Behind The Racquet

Twitter | @BehindTRacquet

Instagram | @behindtheracquet

 

Check out the great new logo for Behind The Racquet!