Jack Sock upsets Milos Raonic in three sets on Wednesday in Memphis. Sock is joined in the second round by Lleyton Hewitt and Donald Young
This time, Milos Raonic could not make the quick turnaround from San Jose to Memphis as he lost to Jack Sock 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in the first round of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships on Wednesday night. Sock struck 11 aces–only one fewer than his opponent–to advance after two hours and 10 minutes.
The underdog American put a charge into his upset hopes by breaking his nearly unbreakable opponent once in the opening set. Sock saved the only break point he faced to make his lead stand up. Raonic, who has won San Jose three years in a row and had finished runner-up in Memphis the past two seasons, had squandered his first eight break chances of the match. But he finally got over the hump in set two and it came at the most opportune time, with Sock serving to stay in it at 5-6. Raonic’s first scalp of the Sock serve also allowed him to start the decider with the balls on his racket.
The 14th-ranked Canadian continued to take care of his serve throughout the third, but he cracked out of nowhere at 5-5. Sock earned his second break of the day then survived a deuce game on his own serve to clinch victory.
Lleyton Hewitt won a wild one against Yen-Hsun Lu earlier in the day, prevailing 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 after two hours and 21 minutes. Hewitt struck nine aces without double-faulting and benefited from seven Lu double-faults to set up a meeting with Denis Istomin.
Lu, who also lost to Hewitt in the 2011 Memphis opening round, came out firing and dominated the first set. Hewitt turned the tide by taking a 4-1 advantage in the second with two breaks. Crazy momentum swings continued to take place, as Lu battled back to level the terms and eventually pull ahead 6-5. Chinese Taipei’s top play even had two match points with Hewitt serving to stay alive at 15-40.
The 31-year-old Aussie saved both of them and he never lose control after forcing a tiebreaker. Hewitt briefly trailed 3-1, but he won the last six points of the ‘breaker to force a decisive third set. The word No. 107 had another minor hiccup after leading 2-0, but his fifth break of the day came when it mattered most at 5-4 to end it.
Joining Hewitt in the second round is qualifier Donald Young, who led 5-1 in the first set when Xavier Malisse retired. Young will battle fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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