Darian King upsets Baghdatis

Barbados’ Darian King claimed one of his biggest scalps in tennis today on his way to the second qualifying round of the Australian Open. 

He defeated Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis who has been a big name on the ATP circuit for a long time, getting to as high as number eight in the world back in 2006 when he made the final of the Australian Open and the semi-final at Wimbledon.

But this morning, Baghdatis, whose career has declined over the last two years, started too slowly against the younger and fitter Barbadian. King won the first set 6-4, before Baghdatis came into his own to claim the second set 6-4.

But the fresher legs of King would tell in a third set with the Barbados Davis Cup ace running out a 6-3 winner.

The victory, despite Baghdatis’ diminished standing on the ATP tour was still an upset, with the 33-year-old ranked at 122 in the world.

King, who is bidding to make another grand slam after his 2017 US Open bow, will turn his attention to Russia’s Alexey Vatutin, who is ranked at 175 but has gone as high as 136.

King is ranked at 172 and has gone as high as 106.