King to return after pondering jump to pro tour

After a summer of tournaments, sophomore tennis sensation Phillip King is back on campus for the start of another school year; but if he won just one more match at last weekend's U.S. Open qualifier, he might not have come back.

For 10 straight weeks, King played in tournaments such as the Los Angeles Open, the Tennis Masters Series in Montreal, the Tennis Masters Series in Cincinnati, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. and in the U.S. Open qualifier.

"The competition out there is a lot tougher [than in school]," King said. "[You're] getting pampered every week--driving a Mercedes for a week and eating food. Here tennis is another class. It's still fun though."

King, who has toured in tournaments in past years, noted that this year's experience was different than prior ones.

"I won a couple of rounds [this year]," he said. "[But] I had a lot more success last year."

Last year, King competed in the main draw of the U.S. Open. However, he lost his professional ranking during the school year and was forced to participate in the U.S. Open qualifier for both singles and doubles the weekend before school began. He lost in singles to Bjorn Phau of Germany, ranked among the top-200 players in the world. Phau went on to win his next two matches to earn a pairing in the Open.

"At that level, players can be really hard to beat when they get hot," said men's tennis coach Jay Lapidus, who flew to New York to watch King play.

Earlier in the summer, King--who won national rookie of the year honors--had considered leaving school to go pro but later changed his mind, in part because of the his early exit from the qualifying rounds.