Professional tennis player John Chin is set to represent Jamaica in the upcoming Davis Cup tie for the first time since becoming a professional.
Chin, a two-time representative on Jamaica's Davis Cup team, is preparing for another Davis Cup battle on February 4-5, when Jamaica takes on Estonia on home turf.
Chin, a former top junior made a strong professional debut in the second half of last year. While still only 18 years old, he played through the qualifying round and into the semi-finals of a Men's $25,000 tournament in the Dominican Republic in his first ever professional competition.
Then in November 2022, partnering with Miles Jones of the USA, he recorded his first professional doubles win in Santo Domingo. Playing against Aydan Gomez-Osorio (Netherlands) and Kaipo Marshall of Barbados, Chin and Miles won in straight sets 6-1, 7-6.
"The transition from the junior circuit to the pro circuit is definitely a step up in skill level," says the Mandeville native who is trained locally by Ryan Russell of Russell Tennis Academy.
"It is very challenging but I will continue to work on my game and hopefully improve my ranking this year."
Having reached a Junior ITF (International Tennis Federation) career high ranking of 211, Chin hopes to eventually better that on the pro circuit.
He ended 2022 ranked 1019 on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Men's Singles pro tour.
He played his freshman year of college tennis at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 2021-2022, where he went undefeated at 8-0 in the spring season.
MTSU ended the year ranked in the top 20 of NCAA Division 1 men's tennis. After one season with the Tennessee college Chin decided to transfer to Boise State University (BSU) in Idaho where he will wear the colours of the Broncos.
"I am looking forward to training with the Boise men's tennis team. I want to make an impact on the team and to help BSU reach our goals for the 2023 spring season and beyond." BSU's head coach Luke Shields and assistant coach Alexander Free both have excellent reputations as coaches and I expect to do well under their tutelage." says Chin.
He is one of only three Jamaican men who are currently ranked on the ATP tour. Blaise Bicknell leads the group as the highest ranked player at 764, with Chin second at 1019, followed by Rowland 'Randy' Phillips at 1398. All three men are again slated to play for Jamaica in the tie against Estonia.