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Stagnated Sock Still Stuck In Fourth Year Of Comeback
2 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
Jack Sock came to Houston this week as a wildcard, desperate for a win or two or three to salvage his stagnated singles career and he seemingly had a good draw with qualifier Tomas Machac as his first round opponent
But in the first night match on stadium court Sock was not up for the challenge and was broken early and never managed to dig out of the love-2 deficit, Sock lost to the Czech player 62 64.
Sock is now 2-4 on the year with losses to Pecotic, Fritz, Francisco Cerundolo, teenager Alex Michelsen.
He’s only beaten Ivashka and Barrere this year.
Last year after US Open, Sock showed flashes of his A game, winning the first two sets in a first round loss to Diego Schwartzman 63 75 06 01 ret. Sock was knocking on the door to the top 100. After US Open at Laver Cup, while ranked 128, he almost beat world no. 2 Casper Ruud 46 75 7-10 and seemed to be ready to ignite a big surge back to ATP prominence and relevance. After the Ruud loss Sock stayed in Europe to play three ATP Challengers in France but only posted a 3-3 record in those three tournaments.
In the off-season Sock trained hard through November and December with new coach Nick Monroe but the hard work didn’t pay any dividends. This year has been more mediocrity from the 30 year old American who was once ranked no. 8 in the world in November 2017.
The crash of Sock happened in 2018. He started the year in the top ten but finished the year with a 9-22 record and fell out of the top 100. 2019 was a nightmare for Sock as he only won one match (1-8) all year – in Laver Cup vs Fognini.
In 2020 and 2021 Sock was not able to regain his “J Sizzle” swagger and floated outside the top 150 with ordinary results. Sock got his rank up to 107 last year at US Open but has since dropped to his current status of no. 166.
Next week Sock will resume his comeback attempt, now in it’s fourth year, as he will play the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open Challenger.
In early May, Sock will make his pro pickleball debut in the Carvana PPA tournament in Charlotte, NC.
Houston · Jack SOck · USA Tennis
Cory · April 7, 2023 at 11:12 am
And the last sentence should sum up where his spirit, where his intentions are. Not focused on tennis. You also mentioned him galivanting at the SuperBowl just a day before a scheduled WC match. I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Look at his demeanor; there’s no fire, no desire, no anger. Instead we see a too-cool swagger. His tennis touring is just a vacation for him.
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2023 at 11:54 am
Cory, agree I don’t think Sock cares enough, it’s not life and death for him, he’s happier living the vacation life with his wife and he’s earned that. Tennis is all he’s known since teenager years, he’s had a great career, won majors and Olympic medals, been no. 2 in the world in doubles and 8 in singles. But the fact he keeps asking for and getting wildcards means he is trying to regain his lost status. With no American ATP tournaments until Newport, Sock won’t be getting any wildcards and will have to grind it out in Challengers which he has struggled to have much success in. He’s a major leaguer who just doesn’t play well in the “minor leagues.” Maybe as one player said, he feels it’s “beneath him.”