ATLANTA–Former Georgia Tech All-American Kevin King will make his ATP singles debut just a few block away from campus, at the BB&T Atlanta Open. King earned a spot in the tournament’s main draw after winning his 3rd qualifying round match. It was an impressive 3 set win over ATP tour veteran Robby Ginepri 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
King, who grew up in Peachtree City, says he grew up admiring Ginepri. “Obviously, being from this area I have watched Robby. He has been a great player on the pro tour.”
After losing the opening set, King took the upper hand in the match. “In the second set I made some adjustments, and after the rain delay I was able to execute my game plan.”
Kevin King will open play in the main draw Tuesday afternoon at 3pm against Yen-Hsun Lu, the tournament’s number 5 seed.
For King, who finished Tech in 2012,qualifying for the main draw makes this week even sweeter as he will get to play in the doubles tournament with Juan Spir. Spir , who also achieved All- American status at Georgia Tech, finished school this year and is new to the pro tennis tour. Kevin and Spir were one of the nation’s top college doubles teams and received a spot in the BB&T main doubles draw when the Bryan Brothers withdrew. ” It is going to be great”, says King. “we played together 3 years at Tech, and we are looking forward to getting back together on the court.”
Kevin King has already scored an ATP victory in doubles. It happened two years ago when the Atlanta tournament was played in Norcross and King was paired with Drake Bernstein who had just finished his senior season at Georgia. The Bulldog/Jacket duo shocked the tournament by upsetting the defending champions and top seeds Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram. Bernstein collected some prize money that week, but King had another year of school to go and could not. That won’t be a problem for Kevin this time around.
