Sixteen-year-old Chicago native Evan King is currently ranked fourth in the USTA boys' 16s, 13th in the USTA boys' 18s and 100th in the ITF World Junior Rankings. King, who is representing the United States this weekend in the Junior Davis Cup qualifying rounds in Montreal, takes time from his busy schedule to discuss life both on and off the court during the three-day prestigious competition.
Day 2: Saturday, May 3
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| Evan King (David Kenas) |
Today was another great day for Team USA. We started off with another early wake up call to be at breakfast at 7:45. We arrived at the tennis center at 9 and then hit for about an hour.
After that, both the Davis and Fed Cup teams got together outside in the rain and got pumped up. We got in another big circle and went crazy. Brooke Bolender said, "When we went outside, I was freezing cold, and after that I was warm." I'm just saying you all can just call me Rasheed from now on.
Ray started us off once again and did not disappoint. He started off well and got off to a 3-1 lead, then went down, 3-5. Serving at 3-5, he faced a set point, and after a long rally, he ripped a backhand cross court for a winner. Jordan and I were going crazy in the crowd. The first set ended in a tiebreaker that Ray won, 7-0. He ended up winning, 6 and 6.
I was up next to clinch. I played really well and won, 1 and 0. Then Jordan and I played some tricky dubs and won, 0 and 2. It was nice to come away with that victory. For the rest of the day, we just chilled like scarecrows and ate cereal. Was a good day!
That's all for now. I have to go walk it out like DJ Unk.
Day 1: Friday, May 2
I have been looking forward to this opportunity for awhile, and when Tuesday came, I was excited. I met up with the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team, my boys Jordan Cox and Raymond Sarmiento, at Chicago's airport, and from there we left. On the plane, I sat next to Ray, and the ride went by pretty quickly because I was dominating him in Mario Kart.
It was good seeing everyone and meeting the 14 year olds who are also here. Soon after we arrived at the hotel, we left for practice at the tennis center. Coach Kent led the practice. At dinner we all had a good time watching the Suns play the Spurs, except for the fact that it took about 45 minutes for our food to come. It was a long day, and we all went to bed.
The next two days were filled with a lot of practice. We were at the tennis courts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. All of the practices went well for the most part.
The best part of yesterday's practice by far was during a volley-volley game. It was Ray and me vs. Jordan and Coach Roditi. We always play for "butts up." For those of you do not know what butts up is, I will tell you. It is a classic game, where the loser lines up on the fence, and the winner can hit you as hard as he can from the net. So, Jordan and Coach Roditi were lined up in the back, and Ray completely cracked a ball straight at Coach. It hit him so hard, dead on. It was the funniest thing that I've seen on this trip. I was literally on the court rolling around laughing. It was great. After practice and a shower, we had the official tournament dinner.
Today we had an early wake-up call because the draw had come out and we were to play Mexico at 10. We had a great breakfast and went to the courts at 8. We were all excited and getting pumped for our matches. We even got fired up Detroit Pistons' style and went crazy like Rasheed Wallace before their playoff games.
Ray started us off well and won, 6-1, 6-1. He played well, and we were pumped about it. Next, Jordan had a match against Mexico's No. 1 player. He started off well and won, 6-1. His opponent got an early break and then served for the second set. Jordan then bounced back like elastic and took that game and held for a 6-5 lead. During the changeover, six of us started a great slow clap that caught Jordan's attention. He looked over and laughed a little. He then proceeded to win the match, 1 and 5.
Ray and I had doubles afterwards and won, 0 and 1. We played extremely well today.
That's all for today. Now we have to go lean back like Fat Joe!
Junior Fed Cup Blog: Beatrice Capra