Jack Sock was supposed to be playing golf at Augusta National this week. He didn’t want to miss that prestigious tee time for nothing.
Making the most of his last-minute trip to London, Sock booked a place in the semis of the World Tour Finals when he beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in a virtual quarterfinal showdown on Thursday night. The American improved his round-robin record to 2-1 and earned the second spot out of Group B by triumphing in one hour and 53 minutes.
It was a roller-coaster contest in which Sock was hit with a ball-abuse warning early in the opening set before righting the ship. After fighting off two break points in his first service game and another at 2-3, he seized control with a break of his own for 4-3. Sock consolidated his advantage throughout the remainder of set one only to get broken early in the second and fall behind 2-0. Content to gear up for a third, the 25-year-old all but donated the rest of the middle frame to Zverev.
The momentum shifts were nowhere over. After getting broken right away in the third, Sock sent another ball into the upper deck on the O2 Arena and incurred a point penalty. It was the only point Zverev would “win” in his ensuing service game. The German wasted his automatic 15-0 lead and gave back the break four points later. At 4-2 in was Sock’s turn to give back a break, but the final turn came with Zverev toeing the line at 4-5. A double-fault by the 20-year-old at 30-30 gave Sock a match point, and it ended when Zverev missed a forehand wide.
“Yeah, I choked,” Zverev answered when asked if the pressure got to him. “It’s quite easy. (I) won the second set 6-1; I was 1-0 with a break (in the third). He got a point penalty. I was down 1-4 within 10 minutes where I didn’t put many balls in the court. When I got back at 4-5, that’s one of the worst games I think I played all year. So, yeah, I just choked.”
“It’s tough,” Sock said after being told about Zverev’s analysis. “The guy is 20 years old. He’s played some absolutely outstanding tennis in his career. (He) can’t even legally drink a beer in the U.S. and he’s (No.) 3 in the world. I don’t know. It could be nerves. It could be the expectations for him, as well.”
Sock, on the other hand, had no expectations to even be in London. And he deserves more credit than he got from Zverev, because he’s playing like it. The world No. 9 dictated play more often than not with his forehand and produced enough variation with aggressiveness and slices off the backhand side to keep Zverev out of rhythm.
“Like I said all week, I’m kind of playing with house money,” Sock explained. “I’m going out there and kind of letting loose, having fun, enjoy my time, trying to put on a show a little bit.”
The show must go on.
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