Sock downs Cilic to keep ATP Finals hopes alive
London:jacksockkepthisdreams of a fairytale finish to his season alive on Tuesday, beating Wimbledon inalist Marin Cilic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) at the ATP Finals.
Cilic, who won the 2014 US Open, broke the American twice to win the first set but found himself adrift in the second set as Sock levelled the round robin match with two breaks of his own.
In a see-saw deciding set, the Croatian fifth seed was quickly out of his blocks, racing to a 3-0 lead before Sock, the eighth seed, steadied himself, cancelling out the break.
The match then settled back on serve and went into a tie-break and Sock emerged as the winner.
Sock, the American number one, came from nowhere to reach the endof-season event, reaching London by winning the Paris Masters -- and breaking a run of European success at Masters events stretching back to 2010.
NADAL PULLS OUT
Rafael Nadal dramatically pulled out from the ATP Finals on Tuesday. The Spanish world number one produced an astonishing neversay-die performance in his opening round-robin match at the O2 Arena late on Monday despite obvious discomfort, digging deep to save four match points before eventually succumbing to a tenacious David Goffin.
Nadal, who pulled out of the Paris Masters this month with a knee injury, said it was a “miracle” that he stayed so close to Goffin during his 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 defeat, insisting he had done all he could.
“My season is finished,” the Spaniard said. “Yeah, I had the commitment with the event, with the city, with myself. I tried hard. I did the thing that I had to do to try to be ready to play. But I am really not ready to play.”
“Is about the pain,” Nadal added. “I cannot hold with enough power to keep playing. I tried, but seriously it was a miracle to be very close in the score during the match. It really doesn’t make sense.”
The Spaniard, who will be replaced in the event by his compatriot and world number 10 Pablo Carreno Busta, said he hopes to be ready for the start of the 2018 season.