BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Darian King, Barbados’ leading tennis player, delivered an outstanding performance, securing two decisive singles victories to guide his nation to a 3-1 win over Pakistan in their Davis Cup Group II encounter on Sunday. This marked the first-ever meeting between the two teams in Davis Cup history.
King, who famously reached the main draw of the 2017 US Open, started Barbados off on the right foot in Saturday’s opening singles match by defeating Muhammad Shoaib in straight sets. The Barbadian dominated the match from start to finish, claiming a 6-3, 6-0 win in under 90 minutes.
Pakistan rallied through their seasoned player, Aqeel Khan, who mounted a comeback to overcome Barbados’ Kaipo Marshall in a three-set battle. Khan dropped the first set but recovered to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, leveling the tie at 1-1 after day one of competition.
A pivotal match
King then paired up with his long-time doubles partner, Haydn Lewis, in a pivotal match on Sunday. The duo took on Khan and Pakistan’s doubles specialist Aisam Qureshi, emerging victorious in a hard-fought contest, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, to give Barbados the upper hand once more.
In the reverse singles, King completed his stellar weekend by overpowering Yousaf Khalil with a commanding 6-3, 6-0 victory, clinching the tie for Barbados and handing the team an unassailable 3-1 lead.
King, who once ranked as high as 106 in the world but has seen his ranking drop outside the top 1,000 due to injuries, was instrumental in delivering Barbados’ historic triumph over their Pakistani rivals.
