The Auckland title is coming down to Roberto Bautista Agut and unseeded Jack Sock on Saturday. In Sydney, meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov and defending champion Viktor Troicki are battling for the winner’s trophy.
ASB Classic: Jack Sock vs. (8) Roberto Bautista Agut
Bautista Agut and Sock will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they meet in the Auckland final on Saturday afternoon. Sock leads the head-to-head series 2-1 at the main-draw level, but it is tied up at 2-2 overall. Bautista Agut came out on top in 2013 Beijing qualifying and a few months later at this same Auckland tournament before Sock turned the tide. The 26th-ranked American won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 last season in Indian Wells and 6-4, 6-4 shortly thereafter on the clay courts of Houston.
While Bautista Agut seems to have plateaued around 20th in the world (he is currently No. 25), Sock is on what looks like a meteoric rise. The 23-year-old won 35 ATP-level matches in 2015 despite missing the first two months of the season and he has stormed out of the 2016 gates on fire. So far this week Sock has defeated Victor Estrella Burgos, Vasek Pospisil, Kevin Anderson, and David Ferrer. Bautista Agut punched his ticket to the title match by scraping past Jiri Vesely, Donald Young, John Isner, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
After dropping the first set against Ferrer, Sock dominated the last two sets 6-1, 6-2. Bautista Agut is coming off extremely difficult three-setters against both Isner and Tsonga. Never has Sock been more confident, and this will simply be a mis-match in terms of firepower.
Pick: Sock in 2
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Apia International: (3) Viktor Troicki vs. (4) Grigor Dimitrov
Troicki and Dimitrov will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time already this season when they clash in the Sydney final on Saturday night. They just faced each other in the Brisbane second round, where Dimitrov prevailed 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2. They previously squared off on the indoor hard courts of Basel in 2012, with Dimitrov getting the job done 6-3, 6-2.
Although they are not separated by a wide chasm in the rankings (Troicki is 22nd, Dimitrov 28th), their 2015 campaigns were fare different in terms of relative success. Troicki surged into the top 30 in what was his first full year on tour following a one-year suspension, and it included a title at this same Sydney event as a qualifier. Dimitrov, on the other hand, slumped from the top 10 to almost out of the top 30.
But the fourth-seeded Bulgarian clearly means business in 2016 with new coach Franco Davin on board. He is coming off a quarterfinal performance in Brisbane (lost to Roger Federer in three sets) and so far this week has taken out Pablo Cuevas, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Gilles Muller. Troicki is through to a second consecutive Sydney final following defeats of Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Mahut, and Teymuraz Gabashvili. The No. 3 seed loves this tournament, but Dimitrov seems reinvigorated and should have the mental edge in a competitive contest–just like he did last week.
Pick: Dimitrov in 3
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who ya got?
Done
Those and more
Dimitrov in two and sock in three
hadn’t realised that bautista agut beat both tsonga and isner..am very surprised..
very good win for sock over the little beast….sock seems to be going up the rankings fast..
I like all of our American men and want to see them succeed. Querrey is not at the top of my hit list though, he reminds me of Eeyore and while I love Eeyore, I don’t think it bodes well on the tennis court.
Jack Sock is doing very well and I think he can go far. The press will put so much pressure on him though, I hope he can handle it. I just wish they would just let him play. Don’t see that happening! I hope he wins tonight!
Just turned on TV. What’s going on? Is he cramping again?
Bad luck for Sock, i hope he feels better by Monday.
what happened?
Sock still has the flu, lost the 1st set 6-1 and lost the first game of the 2nd set and retired
Oh no, Jack – get better quick!
I missed the match.
Congrats RBA
Troicki won in a 3rd set TB. A great match that either of them could have won. Shame one of them had to lose.
Quite an exciting match this one. Nice speech by Troicki. I think both can build on this for the season. I like both guys.
Wow Troicki surprised me. He played some great tennis under pressure that shot on match point in particular was incredible. I hope Grigor bounces back. Just when he’s back to a somewhat upward slope he loses a gut wrencher. Too bad. Still that’s big week for Troicki heading into AO.