One of the brightest and fasted rising players on the circuit, 2010 saw the statuesque Kiwi rise from outside the top thirty to number seventeen by the end of the year.
The 22 year old started the year with some solid results. A quarter final showing at the Burning River Classic, succumbing to top seed Alison Waters was followed with a semi final appearance at the Dayton Open, losing to Kasey Brown.
It was in April at the Texas Open where King really started to capture people?s attention. She stormed through the draw unseeded, taking out three higher ranked opponents before stunning top seed Rachel Grinham in the final to capture her fifth and biggest career title.
She made her top twenty debut in June.
King ended the year strongly too, reaching the final of the Crocodile Challenge Cup, leading top seed Annie Au in the final before Au staged a comeback to take the title. This was followed by a quarter final place at the Qatar Classic in November. These results helped push King up to seventeen in the rankings by the end of the year.
However, what really lifted King to the world stage were her performances at the Commonwealth Games. She stole many of the headlines with her two medals. She took silver in the mixed doubles with Martin Knight and triumphed in the women?s doubles with partner Jaclyn Hawkes. She performed strongly in the singles too, reaching the quarter finals. She gave Alison Waters a real scare before going down in five games.
King was also part of a successful team at the Women?s World Team Championships in her home country. The Kiwi?s finished fourth, one place above their seeding, losing a nail biter to England in the semi final.
2011 has already been a strong start for King, she reached the final of the Greenwich open, dispatching Grinham again in the quarter finals before being defeated by Kasey Brown in the final. This has helped propel her to fourteen in the rankings.
A place in the top ten will not be too far away if she can continue this form.
2010 tour win-loss record: 18-9
Career titles: 5
