July 18, 2011
Norcross, Ga. – Kevin King almost had a win to remember Saturday when he faced Nicolas Massu of Chile in the first round of singles qualifying at the Atlanta Tennis Championships.
King and Massu were the feature match of the day as the Peachtree City, Ga., native took on a player who was a former World No. 9-ranked player and the only player in modern Olympic history to win an Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles. King, on the other hand, received a wild card into the qualifying tournament.
King won the first set and was serving for the match at 5-4 when the veteran ATP Tour player broke him and went on to win not only the set (in a tiebreaker), but the match, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
But Tech’s top player is not through in the event. He will also play in the main draw of doubles with Drake Bernstein of the of Georgia. The pair received a wild card into the main draw of doubles. They play their first match Tuesday against a veteran American team of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram, who are the defending champions in this event and have a world ranking of 26.
King earned All-America status as a doubles player last year, pairing with Tech junior Juan Spir to win 35 matches, reach the semifinals of the NCAA Championship and finish the spring No. 9 in the ITA rankings.
Also in action Saturday in the singles qualifying was Guillermo Gomez, who graduated from Georgia Tech this spring. He lost to Phillip Simmonds in their first round match, 6-4, 6-4.
