THE FLATS – Former Georgia Tech All-American tennis player and two-time team captain Kevin King has joined the Yellow Jackets’ men’s tennis program as an assistant coach, Byers men’s head coach Kenny Thorne announced today. King was previously a volunteer assistant coach during the 2016-17 season.
King starred for Tech from 2008-12 and graduated with highest honors in mechanical engineering in 2012. During his time on The Flats, King paired with doubles partner and current volunteer assistant coach Juan Spir reaching the preseason No. 1 ranking during the 2011-12 season. He is coming off a professional career where he beat the former world No. 3 singles player Grigor Dimitrov at the Atlanta Open. He competed in all four grand slam tournaments during his career.
“We are very fortunate to be able to welcome Kevin back to our coaching staff. He brings extensive collegiate and professional playing experience. He has recently beaten some of the best players in the world and will bring valuable insight to our daily training.” Thorne said of King. “He worked extremely hard on the court and in the classroom while at Georgia Tech, so he can relate well to the current team. He understands the high goals we have for this team and shares the vision of developing and mentoring our student athletes.”
King is one of the most decorated players in Tech’s men’s tennis program. He is in the top 10 in singles career wins for all matches (84), career wins for dual matches (56), season wins in all matches (28, 2011-12), and season wins in dual matches (19, 2010-11). During King’s senior year, he ranked as high as No. 7 in the nation in singles. King ranks second all-time in career wins for doubles trailing only Spir. King and Spir spent three years together as a doubles pairing at Tech. The duo won 66 matches together over three seasons.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back at Tech. We have a great group of hardworking guys and I’m excited to get to work with them,” King said about returning to The Flats.
King earned ITA All-American honors in doubles in 2011. During that season, he set the mark for season wins in all matches in doubles at 36. King also took home All-ACC honors in 2010, 2011, and 2012 in doubles. King was an ITA Academic All-American, 4-time member of the All-ACC academic team, and 4-time ITA Scholar Athlete.
King continued his doubles success with Spir after turning professional winning six challenger series events. King won six other events with four different partners during his doubles career. King also competed in the 2014 Wimbledon doubles tournament and the 2014 and 2018 US Open doubles tournaments. As a singles player, he reached as high as No. 162 (May 7, 2018) in the ATP singles rankings and No. 114 (July 28, 2014) in the doubles rankings. King accumulated six singles titles as a professional.
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