Jack Sock ends US drought with ATP win
LONDON, England (AP): THE UNITED States has been waiting 10 years for a win at the ATP Finals, few thought Jack Sock would be the man to deliver it.
The No. 8-seeded player defeated Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4) yesterday.
Sock lost his debut match at the O2 Arena to Roger Federer, but he is now 1-1 in his roundrobin group.
While others might have been surprised at Sock becoming the first American to win at the elite season-ending event since Andy Roddick in 2007, the man himself wasn’t.
“I wouldn’t be out here playing, competing if I didn’t think I could give myself a chance to win tournaments, to be here,” Sock said.
“I’m not the type of guy that will just enter a draw and be happy to make the third round or the quarters or whatever. I’m here to win matches. I think if I do the right things and I play the right tennis, I can give myself a chance to play on the weekend of any tournament.”
Cilic, who has won only one of his eight matches overall at the season-ending tournament.
“Definitely not a great record, but I felt that I played even well last year,” Cilic said. “In those three matches that I played, I had good chances at least to win. These two also. So just, you know, couple points away from closing those matches. A little bit unfortunate with that.”