17
Kevin Kim Is Still Out There, Grinding At 33
4 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios, Scoop
Did you know that Kevin Kim is still out there, grinding out tennis matches all over the world? At 33, the veteran American who turned pro in 1997, is still an ATP presence.
Just look at this schedule. Kim started 2011 in New Caledonia then to Melbourne – Honolulu – Quimper, France – Meknes, Morocco – Salinas, Ecuador – Kyoto, Japan – Rimouski, Canada – Pereira, Colombia – Leon, Mexico – Busan, S. Korea – Alessandria, Italy – Milan, Italy – Guadalajara, MX – Winnetka, IL – Aptos, CA – back to Manta, Ecuador – Beijing, China – Montreal, CA – Winston Salem, NC – Tulsa, OK – Cali, Colombia – Mexico – Sacramento, CA – Tiburon, CA – back to S. Korea – and then he ended the year in Charlottesville, VA and then – a final event in Champaign, IL where he won three qualifyihng matches over Kudla, McClune, J. Jenkins before losing in the main draw R32 to Mirza Basic.
That’s 28 events. All over the planet. Kim’s record on the year was 20-28. He started the year 2011 ranked #235 and ended at #444.
So far this year Kim has played three events – Challengers in Dallas, Hawaii and the ATP qualies in San Jose where he beat Reix of France in the first round but then lost to Richard Berankis 4-6 in the third.
Kevin Kim may not get much press or acclaim for what he’s doing anywhere else but we’ll give him some here. It takes a special player to compete all over the globe against the best players on the planet, when you’re entering your mid 30s, for rewards that barely cover travel expenses. So hat’s are off to Kevin Kim, you are the ultimate road warrior of tennis.
Here is the Biofile I did with Kevin two years ago…
https://www.tennis-prose.com/articles/newport-biofile-with-kevin-kim/
Is Kevin Kim the ultimate road warrior?
Dan markowitz · February 17, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Scoop,
Good call, Kim is the Spadea of post-2010, although he hasnt had near the success Vince had. I do recall Vince beat Kim in the semis of Delray one year. Nice two-handed backhand, but hard guy to support as he showed zero emotion on the court. He’s probably hanging around to see if he can quallify once more at a major.
franklin · February 17, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Kevin Kim has a 1 handed backhand
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Hi Franklin, thank for your comment and welcome to the site. I’m with you, about 98% sure Kevin Kim uses a one handed backhand. Pretty sure he still uses a Volkl too.
Dan Markowitz · February 17, 2012 at 10:08 pm
I don’t know why I typed two-handed, Franklin, because yes, he has a nice one-hander. I think Kim was a pretty highly-touted junior player, but never really reached the heights people set for him. Kind of like Gimelstob in his career, although Gimel probably played and won a few more big matches. There was Kevin and Alex Kim, and while Kevin had the better career, I can’t think of one signature win he ever had.