Doubles pairing brings Tech, Georgia fans together on tennis court

Drake Bernstein is a righty in a 5-foot-10-inch frame. Kevin King’s a lefty with a little more height. The past four years, Bernstein has donned the Georgia red and black, while King remains partial to Georgia Tech’s old gold and white.

When a net separates Bernstein and King, those differences are simple to see.

But this week, they found themselves on the same side of the court in doubles action at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Their wild-card entry drew a first-round matchup against defending tournament champions Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram.

There was no learning curve for Bernstein and King. The pair was confident and focused, upsetting the top-seed team of Lipsky and Ram 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Wednesday night at the Racquet Club of the South in Norcross.

“It was a great atmosphere, playing on the center court here at night under the lights against such a great team in our hometown,” Tech senior King said of their match that began shortly after 11 p.m.

When the match ended, Bernstein and King wasted little time crossing the court and posing for a picture in front of the scoreboard to document their monumental win. Then they went to celebrate with the fans that stayed glued to their seats past midnight to see the hometown pairing.

“That’s the most memorable win of my life, singles or doubles,” recent Georgia grad Bernstein said. “To beat the No. 12 team in the world is something special.”

On Friday afternoon, Bernstein and King faced the German doubles team of Matthias Bachinger and Frank Moser in quarterfinals action.

Bachinger and Moser held a 5-3 advantage midway through the first set, but the college kids battled back, forcing a tiebreaker. With the crowd on their side, they jumped to a 5-1 lead, but Bachinger and Moser regained momentum, taking the first set, 7-6 (8). The German pairing cruised through the second set 6-1 to win the match.

No matter the result, Bernstein and King couldn’t be more thrilled with the opportunity to play this week.

“Any time you get the chance to be on the same court with some of the best players in the world, it’s just a great opportunity,” King said.

This week’s pairing might have taken Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs fans a little time to get used to, but it was a comfortable one for Bernstein and King. While 80 miles separates Bernstein’s hometown of Winder and King’s home in Peachtree City, the two met years ago while playing USTA junior tennis and have remained great friends.

This isn’t their first time as doubles partners either.

Bernstein and King played some doubles together a couple of years before their collegiate careers began. After finding out last month that they would be a wild-card entry in this year’s tournament, the two found some time to refresh their game. But it wouldn’t take too long.

“We were on the same page before we got out there because our coaches have been telling us the same things for years, so I don’t think it was a huge adjustment,” Bernstein said.

King added, “Playing with a friend, it’s great to know each other, and that was definitely going to help us.”

When Bernstein faced off against King in a singles match at Tech this past February, it was a little more competitive than friendly. Bernstein won the match in three sets, but he remembers the days when he wasn’t as lucky against King.