Donald Young and Jack Sock capped off an impressive first-round showing by American men at the Rogers Cup when they prevailed on Tuesday. Young scored a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Frank Dancevic and Sock overwhelmed Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 6-3. Americans are 4-1 so far in Toronto and the unseeded contingent is 4-0. Only No. 10 seed John Isner went down in the opening round.
Young is suddenly in stellar form after losing his first match in Atlanta last month. The world No. 50 reached the Washington, D.C. semifinals last week, which earned him a special exemption into Toronto. Making a quick turnaround, Young got off to slow start against Dancevic but roared back to advance in one hour and 39 minutes.
“I want to soak it in,” Young said last week in an interview with TennisEastCoast.com after upsetting Kevin Anderson in the Washington, D.C. quarters. “I want to do well at all these tournaments; hopefully build my ranking and confidence leading into the Open, because confidence is really important going to a tournament of that stature and the last slam at home.”
Perhaps no American is more confident than Sock right now. The 21-year-old won the Wimbledon doubles title with Vasek Pospisil, reached singles semifinals in both Newport and Atlanta, and he needed just 55 minutes to crush Melzer on Tuesday. Sock fired six aces, won 26 of 31 first-serve points, and saved all three of the break points he faced.
“Last year was kind of my first full year on tour; a lot of the tournaments were new to me and the traveling…” Sock said afterward. “This year is my second year and I definitely feel more comfortable. The fans are great; a lot of fans come out which is fun and makes the atmosphere great.”
Sock will face familiar foe Milos Raonic in the second round, while Young will go up against Grigor Dimitrov.
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