As expected Darian King easily earned a place in the Barbados Tennis Association (BTA) Top 8 Invitational men’s final where he is expected to compete against fellow Davis Cup teammate Matthew Foster- Estwick tomorrow night at the National Tennis Centre in Wildey.
No doubt this has been one of the most competitive BTA Top 8 tournaments which has attracted the very best lawn tennis talent that Barbados has to offer including national number one King who registered a 6-3, 6-1 victory against the aggressive Kaipo Marshall.
Meanwhile in the second semifinal contest Foster- Estwick won and advanced into the final 7-5, 6-3, but did not have it easy on court as Xavier Lawrence made life difficult for him during the match.
Speaking with Barbados Today after the match, King said, “I played well. Kaipo is one of the most aggressive guys in Barbados, so it was just for me to stay steady and get back a lot of returns to put some pressure on him and that worked well.”
He added, “The match started off evenly and I got the break at three all. I think from there he got a little flustered and started to go for a bit too much and that is how I got the break to go 6-3. I stick on him with a couple returns, got a couple breaks and was serving well today.”
Looking ahead to the final tomorrow, King stated, “Matthew is someone I have been training with since he came back from the academy, to help me prepare for my offseason. So, we have seen each other’s game and it is just for both of us to go out there and execute our game plan.”
Foster- Estwick also shared his views about his match against Lawrence and revealed that he felt a little tired but is confident he still has a bit more in the tank for tomorrow’s all-important final against Darian.
“Physically I am a little tired, I had some tough matches over the last couple of days and my hip is not a hundred percent but I know I have enough in my tank to beat him (Darian). We practice all the time so I don’t have that oh my God it is Darian King mentality,” he said.
He went on to explain that tonight’s semifinal match against his dear friend Lawrence was hard saying, “Tonight was hard, it is my teammate, good friend, I knew it was going to be tough because he is a fighter he doesn’t give up and we worked hard every day in Florida. So, it hurts me to see him like that because I know we both deserve to be in the final. I just want to say right now that we both should be on the Davis Cup team.”
Foster- Estwick admitted that because Lawrence was reading his serves so well, it made things difficult and not to mention the rallies which were pretty tricky as well.
Meanwhile, both the losing semifinalists said they were happy to gain more experience and looked forward to what is ahead.
During an interview with Barbados Today, Marshall who played against King said, “It was a match I was looking forward to for quite some time not knowing when it would happen and the fact that I got to play him was something I was very excited about. I put a lot into proving to myself that I can match this level.
“So, I think in the beginning I started really well. I went up two love, I took a break although I dropped the break early. I still think that I showed him from the start I am at that level but sadly I was not able to keep it up. I guess his experience kicked in and he had a few techniques up his sleeve that I didn’t see coming. But I don’t think I played badly, it was more of the mental side of it that really set us apart. I do consider myself to have a strong mental game but there is always room for improvement and tonight it really showed me how I can improve that side of my game.”
While he was unhappy not being able to secure victory against Foster- Estwick, Lawrence expressed congratulations and shared, “Nobody knows each other’s game as well as Matthew and I know each other’s game. We have been training since we were 11 years old up until now. I guess tonight he executed the plan against me better than I did against him.”
He added, “Every year it is good to play and see there has been growth, obviously there are some areas although I have been working hard on them throughout the year. I am not satisfied with where they are but overall where I am playing right now is better than where I was last year around the same time.”
[email protected]
Read our ePaper. Fast. Factual. Free.
Sign up and stay up to date with Barbados’ FREE latest news.
Source link
