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Feb/17

23

Delray Report: Jack Sock Ready More Success

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By Scoop Malinowski

There were questions and even some doubts if Jack Sock would ever break out of being a perpetual middle-of-the-pack players of the ATP Tour but this year has shown he is making his move. And he’s shaking up the ATP Tour with his monstrous forehand and consistent results.

Here in Delray Beach, Sock, ranked 21 in the world and the highest ranked American, has cruised into the quarterfinals with two dominant wins against Radu Albot and veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, where he will next meet fellow ambitious American Steve Johnson. 27-year-old Johnson is ranked No. 26, is like Sock also on the upswing of his career. Both players are not content lodging in the 20s range of the ATP rankings. They believe they are capable of more, considerably more, especially Sock.

“I just feel confident now and physically feel better than ever,” said Sock earlier this week. “I have a better understanding of my game and can now be the aggressor on my terms. I can now let things go and just move forward.”

Sock will meet Johnson for the ninth time as a professional in the Delray quarterfinal. Sock leads the head to head 5-3 which includes three non ATP main draw matches.

Sock and Johnson were once training buddies who shared a coach in Craig Boynton years ago, but now the two, who are still friends and Davis Cup and Olympic teammates, seem to be keeping a distance as competitors, both wary of letting friendship becoming too close when so much is at stake. Sock has hit this week with his coach Troy Hahn and also Del Potro. Johnson has been seen hitting with various other players as well.

It kind of reflects the old days of Sampras/Courier/Agassi/Chang who rarely if ever trained together and certainly kept their distance at Grand Slams and other tournaments. I still remember seeing Courier playing cards with his buddies at the old US Open player cafeteria in the 90s and one table away sat Pete Sampras by himself, either not interested in interacting with Courier or perhaps it was a mutual yet cold-shouldering for professional, competitive reasons.

Sock and Johnson, as well as John Isner (ranked no. 22) and Sam Querrey (no. 35) all are within striking range of becoming the dominant top American player which is a prestigious status all of them are striving for. “It’s a great achievement for American tennis,” says Sock. “It pushes the guys behind me to do better and not be content to have the best player in the U.S. as low as number 21.”

Sock, who won his second ATP singles title in Auckland in January, has had a busy, successful last twelve months. Earlier this year he lost in the third round at the Australian Open To Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 76 75 67 63 (his best performance in Melbourne) and won two Davis Cup singles matches in Alabama vs Switzerland. Last year he won a gold medal in the Olympics mixed doubles and a bronze in doubles with Johnson and posted his deepest runs at both Wimbledon (third round) and US Open (R16).

It seems Sock, at age 24, is entering his prime and with the experience gained over the last six years on the ATP Tour, he’s eager, hungry and confident that his best tennis performances are ahead. Body and soul are ready for the challenge. “The game is more physical with so many dynamic players. So it’s all about being healthy, taking care of your body and staying in good shape.”

 

 

 

 

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92 comments

  • Andrew Miller · February 26, 2017 at 9:49 am

    As for the short handshakes I can’t speak to Sock’s relationships with Johnson and DY. I’d guess both were angry with themselves for not winning a set when they had a chance. DY lost the second in a tiebreak and kept it close. Johnson exited the tournament a lot earlier than he wanted to and may suffer a rankings slip (for DY two semifinals in a row at the ATP level will really boost him).

    Dan has pointed out many times Sock as the lone wolf player. He’s done it his own way, riding doubles wins to confidence for singles and the top billing for us players. I’d think Johnson may stop believing in himself a little bit given Johnson has worked as hard as possible to tread water around the top thirty. He’s like a hard working Ginepri out there.

    I don’t think they dislike each other. Johnson and Sock pair up for doubles or at least did. Maybe DY and Sock aren’t buddies.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 26, 2017 at 9:53 am

    Sock’s on court demeanor is very entertaining – Sock bludgeons the ball like a fierce lumberjack yet he smiles on court during play more than any player I can think of ever – Versus both Johnson and Young Sock portrayed a very cool casual almost nonchalance which silently spoke a clear message: “You are not at my level buddy so thanks for the workout today but get ready to take the L” – Young noticed it and tried to (uncharacteristically) smile back at Sock but it was to no avail – Young battled hard and fought his best but it’s like Sock’s B game is enough to get the job done against the Youngs and Johnsons of the ATP – Now Sock has to figure out a way to consistently handle the elites and today is a perfect test for him to see if he can step it up because Raonic is a member of the elite pantheon now –

  • Andrew Miller · February 26, 2017 at 10:03 am

    Yeah id think Sock goes for it against Raonic. I think Sock’s confidence comes from all the winning over past several years, making round four of us open last year, winning a lot of doubles. He’s a lot craftier competitor than he’s credited with being. So along with the terrible backhand, he has a fine tuned strategy to upend his opponents.
    He loses to Tsonga because Tsonga is better, stronger, faster in every category than Sock and can exploit Sock’s poor movement to the backhand wing and open the court to his own advantage.
    Tsonga is back in the top ten with a huge tournament victory last week so we really can’t put these two guys in the same category.
    The top twenty is also unbelievable. It’s the best I’ve ever seen.

  • Andrew Miller · February 26, 2017 at 10:07 am

    Btw shocked Harrison has to qualify for Acapulco. I thought top 43 would be good enough to be in the main draw. They must have quite a field.

  • Hartt · February 26, 2017 at 11:09 am

    Scoop, I am so glad to hear you think Milos will win a Slam. That, of course, is my big hope for him. I think he has the edge over Sock but they have had several close matches and I would never rule out Sock in this situation.

    Was so excited to get to see several of Ruud’s matches in Rio. I first noticed the young Norwegian a few months ago when this kid I had never heard of showed up quite high in the rankings. Am about to go to my youngsters list to update his current ranking, it will be a big jump from just a few days ago. Was so impressed with how composed he was, playing in such a big tourney. It was unfortunate that the wheels came off in the last set against PCB but the youngster had a great run and if he keeps playing like this will be in the top 100 in no time. That said, I was very glad PCB got the win. Will have a hard time choosing between him and Thiem in today’s final.

  • Hartt · February 26, 2017 at 11:22 am

    According to live tennis rankings Casper Ruud is now at No. 133 having gone up 75 spots! That is quite a week.

  • Doogie · February 26, 2017 at 11:33 am

    Predicting a 24 year old Top 20 player to reach Top10 anytime in his career is not that surprising – no matter what kind of BH he has.

    Of course he should reach it, but for how long can he stay there and what record he will hold at the Grand Slam of end of his career??

    For example Kei is Top10 for a long time now (and will be there for long time) but will he win a GS. As for now there stands just one semi final, which is not much imo.

    For Sock: Not even a quarter final at GS for his career right now.
    Beating Young or Steve Johnson at Delray Beach does not mean anything at his stage (Top20). It is nice but does not give us any conclusions.

  • Jg · February 26, 2017 at 11:52 am

    Good qualifying match win by Kozlov beating Chung in Acupulco, tough qualifying field. I would have thought Chung was past having to qualify.

  • catherine bell · February 26, 2017 at 1:03 pm

    Only a couple of years ago Chung was one of the Next Big Things but now, sadly, it looks as though he is not going to make it.

  • Dan Markowitz · February 26, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    What do you mean Chung’s not going to make it? He’s no. 83, the highest ranked Asian male player besides Kei and Lu, and he’s only 20. He also beat another top-ranked 20 year old, Coric, this year.

    Did anyone hear that Raonic pulled out of the Delray finals? If this is true, the guy goes way down in my pecking order. Pulling out of a tour finals is pretty lame, especially because he didn’t look hurt against Delpo last night.

  • Bryan · February 26, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    “Btw shocked Harrison has to qualify for Acapulco. I thought top 43 would be good enough to be in the main draw. They must have quite a field.”

    Agree with Andrew. Field is deep, especially with Djokovic jumping in. But given Harrison’s rising arc, and past run to the finals, I”d think Acapulco organizers would give him a WC.

  • Hartt · February 26, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    Apparently Tennis Channel has reported that Milos has withdrawn with a hamstring injury. This is a scary pattern with these injuries. I hope it does not mean that he never does well in a slam.

    So Jack Sock will not be tested today.

  • Hartt · February 26, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    Dan, I don’t think there is any way Milos would withdraw if this was not a serious injury. This was a huge match for him. It could have occurred after last night’s match. He used to try to play when injured and it completely ruined his 2015 season.

  • Dan Markowitz · February 26, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    That’s total bs. Raonic is a wuss. Get some physical therapy. Get stretched and get out on the court. This is a finals.

    I was just talking to Anne Worcester who used to be the head of the WTA and she’s run the New Haven tournament for the last 20 years. She came to my yoga studio this morning for a class. And I said to her, I like the New Haven event (wow, what a Legends event they have this summer with Johnny Mac, Blake, Phillipoussis and I think Roddick coming in), but I can’t take it seriously because I know the players being so close to the US Open are not going to try real hard.

    And she said no, all the top 10 players want to play, last year she gave a wild card to Bouchard and had to deny one to Wozniaki, and she asked me to name one match where it looked like a player tanked. I told her I don’t watch women’s tennis so I wouldn’t know (no, actually I just said “really,” but I did tell her I liked the event a lot more when the men were involved–one year I saw Vince and Gasquet both playing qualis).

    But I’ll never root for Raonic again. This type of crap, pulling out of a finals when he didn’t look hurt, in fact, won the match with an ace, just proves to me the guy is all about Milos and won’t even go out there and compete if he doesn’t feel `100 %. He says he has a slight tear of the hamstring? What does that mean? We tear our hamstrings all the time and if it’s just a micro-tear, it heals.

  • Dan Markowitz · February 26, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    Now Milos said he hasn’t even been diagnosed yet, that will happen in the next 36 hours, so how would he know if he has a hamstring tear or not. He says he got up this morning and could barely walk. So did I. I’ve taught five hot yoga classes in the last four days, 108 degrees, 55 % humidity, and I still went to work today and taught two more classes. I highly suspect Milos tore his hamstring. I had that happen once on the tennis court and I could hear it pop and I had to stop playing immediately.

    He says it happened somewhere in the second set, but he still played very well in closing Delpo out. In fact, I’m thinking of one point in the second set breaker where he chipped a backhand down the line and scampered to the net for the Delpo passing shot that landed in the net. I remember thinking to myself, “Geez, I didn’t know Raonic could run that fast.”

  • Jg · February 26, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Chung looked pretty good last year, I think he’s solid. Didn’t he give DJoker a good match? Weak move, slight tear? It’s the final, tape it up and see how it goes, his serve gives him free points then once you are warmed up it may be fine. I’m told that players play with slight tears all the time. I’ve played thru many small tears, and the doc said fine to play just watch it.

  • Andrew Miller · February 26, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    Cheung has fallen. He was #51 in October 2015, so he has slipped considerably since his good showing at the 2016 Australian. Not enough to be worried, he is on a list of best for his age group, but like Fritz a slip nonetheless.

  • catherine bell · February 26, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    Maybe a bit unfair re Cheung but his play is patchy and just when you expect him to string together some good results it doesn’t happen and he’s back qualifying again.
    But at 20 he’s got time.

  • Bryan · February 26, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    Raonic withdrawal was weak. Torn hamstring or not, he should’ve shown up and seen if it loosen up. With his big serve and forehand and Sock’s inability to close out tournaments who knows what happens?

    I was a Raonic fan years ago and watched him with three SAP Opens in San Jose in a row. But since he cheated against Delpo in Montreal by not calling net on himself, I’m no longer a fan.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 26, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    Direct entry / cutoff into Acapulco is done weeks ago when Harrison’s ranking was much lower –

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 26, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    Hartt: I first aw Ruud two years ago at Eddie Herr and met his father Christian who I remember as a top fifty player – We talked a lot about him facing Agassi and Pete and he was clearly very high on Casper who was training a lot in Spain – then last year I saw him again and he said he had continued to make good progress in Futures and this year obviously Casper is continuing to post excellent results – His game seems pretty regular and basic and nothing really stands out at first glance but when you watch him he has an uncanny ability to keep winning points sets and matches – Very interesting player –

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 26, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    Doogie: Have you seen Sock play lately? Watch a match and you will see what all the hype is about – Sock is killing the ball and he’s only I think one match all year and that was a close and hard fought four setter to Tsonga in Australia – Sock is a winning machine now – His serve is deadly and his forehand could very well be the biggest weapon in all of tennis right now (outside of the big servers) –

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 26, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    Not sure if I’m buying the Raonic injury because he looked super fit and healthy last night vs Delpo – Not sure if Sock is buying it either as he said in his speech “It’s been an interesting day” – Federer did this also when he pulled out of the WTF finals vs Djokovic and then played the Davis Cup final which obviously was far more important to Federer than exhausting himself against Djokovic in the WTF final – Some may suspect Fed was selfish to pullout of that WTF to save himself for Davis Cup but some would also blame the tight schedule – Raonic surely knows Sock is a rising force and he remembers all the close tight fierce battles he’s had with Sock and a loss to Sock today would have been a negative step backwards confidence-wise and aura-wise in his pursuit of the first major title – I don’t know but Raonic was smiling a little too much today after the pullout in all the interviews for a guy who is supposedly injured – Raonic is the highest ranked player to ever play Delray Beach 250 and there has to be some suspicion that he big-timed the event in favor of the bigger 1000s coming up – I really hope this terrible final cancellation does not drive away sponsors and do irreparable damage to the event which having attended for ten years can say with sincerity it is a first class fantastic event and it’s beloved by many tennis fans I know – I even know a woman who traveled down all the way from Wash DC to attend it this year – Raonic definitely owes Delray Beach a hefty favor –

  • Dan Markowitz · February 27, 2017 at 8:43 am

    Alright, we all agree, Raonic is a heel. But how about Scoop again coming through with not only a great week giving us the inside look at Delray Beach, but touting Stefan Kozlov after the Koz went down to SteveJo, 6-1,6-4, and the Koz responded in Acapulco qualis beating back to back, Chung and Donaldson without dropping a set. Now the Hollywood (Fla) flash plays another good young American, Ernesto Escobedo, the Vince Spadea look-a-like, who’s a year older than the Koz and ranked no. 113 to the Koz’s 115. I’m going to go with Escobedo in this match although they’ve never faced each other before.

    Maybe Scoop is right. Jack Sock will be a Top 5 player and the Koz will be right behind him. Sock will play Nadal in the 3rd rd of Acapulco if they win their first two matches, but look at the Next Gen group of Americans, they’re no longer looking that promising. Fritz and Tiafoe have kind of plateaued, Donaldson broke with Dent and hasn’t looked good since, Rubin is looking like maybe a top 50 guy, but nothing more and Opelka and Mmoh are still too raw to tell what their upside is. Tommy Paul, he’s cooked, losing this week in a 2nd rd Futures, retiring at 0-3 in the third set to a guy ranked no. 750.

    Is the glass half full or half empty. Both Scoop and I will be in Miami at the end of March and I’m going to talk to as many as these young Americans I can find and coaches and try to paint a more accurate portrayal.

  • Doogie · February 27, 2017 at 10:12 am

    @Scoop:

    I rate Sock high too as u know (I have him on my Fantasy Team too^^)

    But at this point he has not prove yet that he is a Top10 guy – in his current form this could change quickly with Acapulco and 2 1000 Events in the United States!

    Step by step Scoop :)))

    BTW:
    Raonic pulled out of Acapulco too – so maybe he is more injured as u all think.

    Lets be honest. Did Milos ever finish a tournament injury free?? I start to feel sad about all his injuries because I rate him very very high with his weapons

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 27, 2017 at 10:20 am

    Dan; Both Fritz and Tiafoe qualified for Acapulco. Donaldson beat Kukushkin in the first round in Delray 64 in the third and I rate that as a fine win. Remember, Kukushkin extended Djokovic to five hours and five sets in Davis Cup a year ago. Kozlov did play Escobedo once and lost in three sets a year ago. But Kozlov had also lost to Donaldson 57 16 a year ago and turned the tables yesterday on Donaldson with a 75 63 win. Kozlov really battled hard vs Johnson last week in Delray looking down and out down 1-6 1-4 but then he got it back to a tight 4-5 then lost 4-6. Johnson is red hot now. The really interesting match in Acapulco is Johnson vs Isner first round. Those two have had a ton of super ultra close battles with set points saved and tiebreakers. Most recently Johnson beat Isner 76 in the third in Auckland. Johnson and Isner are both coming off tough bitter losses (Isner to Young in Memphis 76 in the third and Johnson to Sock in Delray 46 67) so both will be going all ALL OUT against each other,

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 27, 2017 at 10:34 am

    I would not call Raonic a heel, we have seen the top players stiff the fans many times in the past, with curious late pullouts. Most recently Fed practiced in Miami last year and then pulled out and didn’t play. Lots of people bought tickets expecting/hoping to see Fed play. With Raonic, it could be a real injury or slight pain which he did not want to risk vs Sock and perhaps make worse, though we did not see any sign of injury in the SF win vs Del Potro. It’s a dark side of tennis where top players have to put their interests first, ahead of the sport and tournaments. Raonic is so close to his goal of winning a major, I can see how he could be tempted to fake an injury to dodge a red hot Sock. His tennis ego can’t afford a loss to Sock right now. Like Sock said, “It’s been an interesting day” which I interpreted as Sock being a little surprised and suspicious. But then again, it could be a real injury, we just have to take Milos’ word and give him the benefit of the doubt.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 27, 2017 at 10:40 am

    Doogie; It’s our job as serious tennis observers to try to foretell the step by step BEFORE they happen and not AFTER they happen when it’s obvious 🙂 I believe Sock’s best tennis is ahead. Sock is a very special unique talent. Already he is a US Open and Wimbledon champion (also Olympic gold medalist, all in doubles). Think of all the great players who never won a Grand Slam title in any division, who surely wish they could have… Tommy Hass, Marcelo Rios, Todd Martin, Nikolay Davydenko, Mark Philippoussis, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Brad Gilbert, etc etc.) Sock has shown he is a high stakes player who gets the job done on the big stages.

  • Hartt · February 27, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    Scoop, as you said, Ruud does not have obvious weapons but he is so steady and makes good decisions on the court. Until the 3rd set against PCB he stayed composed and focused no matter what was happening on the court.

    As for Raonic I think he does have an injury. How serious it is only he and his team know for certain. But he has played many matches when injured and if he loses he gets raked over the coals. In last year’s IW final he did what so many say he should have done in Delray, played when injured. He was creamed by Novak, who was gracious enough to say during the trophy presentation that Milos was injured. But all you heard afterwards was what a crummy player Milos was, look at how Novak trounced him.

  • jg · February 27, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    wonder if this whole Nex Gen thing is holding folks back, its like they are just expected to have some close matches or win a few and then they are “Nex-Gen” . Nadal/Fed/Sampras/Agassi were never that, they started winning tournaments at young ages and/or getting to final weekends. These guys (Nex Gen) appear to be too at awe by the bigger names. Lets see if tiafoe is not intimidated by Delpo tomorrow, and not content just being there.

    As an aside, the guy who runs the Jr tournaments down here told me he doesnt agree with all the 10 and under courts, green dot balls, etc. He says in the end its counter productive, and says its certainly not resulting in more players in the tournaments or better play.

  • Andrew Miller · February 27, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    Dang Harrison l to Nishioka in final qualifying rd Acapulco. Is he LL into draw?

  • Dan Markowitz · February 27, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    Jg,

    The whole 10 and under things has me tearing what little hair I have left out of my head. I’m going to have more to say on this later, but my son, who’s definitely in my opinion, one of the top 5 10 year old’s in all of New York and New Jersey, has not played a tournament since August and won’t be able to play until May because the USTA ruled he has to go back and play Orange Ball Level 2 events. Ridiculous, he plays with high school seniors and he should go back and play orange ball with basically kids who aren’t good enough to play yellow ball at 8, 9 what have you. That’s a great plan to build a top junior player.

    Bad loss to Nishioka, who’s crafty but not a real good player. I would be very surprised to see Tiafoe make it close against Delpo. He has no shot of winning.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 27, 2017 at 3:59 pm

    Hey watch what you say about lefty Nishioka who is also part of NEXT GEN and is just 5 ft 7 inches tall and 21 yrs old and ranked 87 – also he’s a big fan of Rios – Nishioka could be the next Jesse Levine or Rios –

  • Andrew Miller · February 27, 2017 at 4:54 pm

    Scoop, surprised as Harrison sat out Delray and marked Acapulco on calendar, and match was a tough one. He goes from two tournament victories in a row to losing 2nd round qualies to Nishioka. Nishioka must have been playing well because he faced a Harrison ready to rumble. But this one will sting.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 28, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Harrison actually won 20 sets in a row in his two title wins and then ran into Nishioka who is 87 in the world and a tricky lefty – Harrison struggles with certain lefties as I saw Harrison struggle twice in practices with Bradley Klahn – It’s okay to lose that after winning two titles in a row – Nishioka is no pushover and is part of NEXT GEN –

  • Chazz · March 1, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    What happened to Sock last night? I was surprised that he lost to Nishioka, and even more surprised at the 2nd and 3rd set scores. Did anyone here catch it?

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    Chazz: Did not see Nishioka beating Sock but I’d chalk it up to post-winning a title & change of time zone letdown – Not to take anything away from Nishioka but it could be a subconscious tank with Sock more focused on Indian Wells and Key Biscayne than Acapulco – It’s just hard to imagine Sock losing to a lower ranked guy like Nishioka after how good he looked in Delray –

  • Chazz · March 1, 2017 at 4:11 pm

    Thanks Scoop, great site you guys have here.

  • Andrew Miller · March 1, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    Nishioka is setting up Nishikori style! He knocked off Memphis winner Harrison then Delray winner Sock. I’d say this is a no fluke situation like Scoop said, this guy is for real. Anytime you beat a player on a winning streak and then another player on a winning streak, both guys primed and ready to play and both at career high rankings, you are a player.
    I will take a look at Nishiokas game. Generally I find the men’s tours lefties to be a talented lot but streaky. Like Bellucci. That guy has a lot of talent, nearly nothing to show for it.

    I failed to notice Lucas Pouille is back in action. That’s impressive he made a final. Tsonga has reemerged as France’ best player in beating back Pouille and winning two titles in two weeks. Indoor hard courts but take the wins where you can get them!

  • Andrew Miller · March 1, 2017 at 7:20 pm

    Scoop, I thought Nishikori beating Blake years ago was a fluke. I was wrong, it was Nishikori’s breakout tournament. I’m not sure about the subconscious tank from Sock, but I’m sure he hit the mental wall. For Nishioka it’s all the better, if his opponent twists his ankle or is mentally exhausted he moves on.

  • scoopmalinowski · March 1, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    Thank you very much Chazz. Your kind words are much appreciated. We cover tennis with the same passion as Hewitt, Nadal, Roger and Serena play it!

  • scoopmalinowski · March 1, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    Andrew, you may be right that Nishioka is breaking out now. Hes a Rios admirer and plays very smart patient creative tennis watching him dissect Thompson now in first set. Kei was no fluke because winning any ATP title is NEVER a fluke. I was there all week when Kei won and i told Dan he moves like Djokovic and will be top five. Nishioka stands just 5-7 but he has amazing ball control and consistency.

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