Jack Sock looks like a typical jock. But he’s not.
He was a high school tennis wiz, going 80-0 at Blue Valley North High School. But Overland Park, Kansas is hardly a traditional tennis breeding ground.
Few would choose a last name like Sock’s. How many times has he been teased—”sock it to me”?
Although Sock is an All-American type (his crew cut is never askew) he holds a most un-American preference. Clay is actually his favorite surface.
Then there’s the matter of his suspect backhand: it’s rather modest. Jim Courier said if Sock succeeds big time, it would be in spite of his technique, not because of it. Many have wondered how the guy could possibly excel with such a weak stroke.
Well, one way to excel when you have a weak backhand is to play doubles. He teamed with his fellow teen Melanie Oudin to win the 2011 US Open mixed doubles. Then, last summer he joined with Canadian Vasek Pospisil to reach the Wimbledon finals, where they faced the Bryan brothers. The well-seasoned, top-ranked American legends would presumably dismiss the upstarts with ease. But in the London dusk, Sock crushed a monster forehand return of serve into the doubles alley to score a stunning win. Soon he and Pospisil were up in the Royal Box lifting the Wimbledon trophy: such a nice moment, a startling upset, something to tell the grandkids about. Well done.
Now, presumably, Sock would just return to the brutal trenches of the ATP tour: below-50 rankings and under-the-radar media. But soon his then-girlfriend, Sloane Stephens, brought him to the forefront again. When Elle Magazine asked her what kind of presents she got from Sock, Stephens quipped, “Pretty much anything I want.”
But, on court, Sock wasn’t exactly getting all he wanted. Last fall he scored a shock victory in Shanghai over No. 6 Kei Nishikori, but in December he had to endure surgery for a torn pelvis which sidelined him for three months. Worse yet, his beloved older brother Eric got a sore throat that morphed into a rare bacterial infection—Lemierre’s Syndrome—which nearly took his life; he came within a day of passing.
Eric’s brush with mortality changed things for Jack. “When you’re out there and you get frustrated missing a ball,” he said, “you can think [what] he’s been through, almost not making it, to a…miraculous recovery. [It] kind of puts things in perspective. Just go out there and enjoy it, and you can play a little more free.”
And free he’s been.
Upon his return to the circuit he scored wins over Giles Muller and Fabio Fognini and reached the doubles final in Miami. Then at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in River Oaks, Texas, he beat No. 15-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 16-ranked Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey to claim his first ATP singles title.
And today in Paris, just like he did at Blue Valley North High, he won. Not over some long-forgotten high school rival, but over a considerable Bulgarian—the No. 10 seed, Grigor Dimitrov. Sock, relaxed and confident, used his punishing forehand, fine serve, good wheels and considerable touch to win a first-set tiebreaker before he pulled away. His tidy 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-3 triumph in 1:55 was the first win by an American over a top 10 player since 2008.
But this ain’t Kansas, Jack.
Sock is slated to play a trio of increasingly renowned Spaniards: Pablo Carreno Busta, Tommy Robredo and a southpaw, who God knows never played high school tennis—Rafa Nadal.
THE BUZZ
JUST WHO IS RUNNING THE SHOW: The controversy over umpire Carlos Bernades continues, In Rio, Rafa Nadal, who is usually an obsessive control freak, discovered that after a mid-match break, he’d come out wearing his shorts inside-out. He asked Bernades whether he could change them on court. Bernades said sure, but that it would cost him a time violation.
Nadal was livid and before the French Open, requested that Bernades not work any of his matches. Incredibly, the ATP granted Rafa’s wish. Recently, they told writer Simon Briggs that it was a non-issue. But many howled in protest. How could a player be bigger than the game itself? What kind of sport is this, in which a player determines who the ref is?
Rafa said he didn’t have anything against Bernades personally, that he liked him. But, “We had some problems … He was not enough respectful with me … when I put my shorts the other way. He wants to put me warnings four times, that’s fine. But if … I ask him if I can change my shorts, I can put my shorts the right way, and his answer is, Yes, but you will receive a time warning. For me, that’s not fair … [It] shows not respect, because I cannot play a full game with the shorts the other way. So … It’s better to be away for a while. That’s all. No personal problem with him, no?”
VILASGATE: Despite an extensive effort, the ATP declined the request of the long-ago retired Guillermo Vilas to be honored with the No. 1 ranking. The Argentine legend contended that a arithmetic effort had cost him the important distinction.
