Britain’s Edmund stuns top seed Sock to reach semis
WASHINGTON: Britain’s Kyle Edmund won nine of the last 10 games to upset US top seed Jack Sock 6-4, 6-1 Friday and reach the ATP BB&T Open semi-finals.
Edmund, a 22-year-old born in South Africa, advanced to his second career ATP semi-final after last year’s European Open in Antwerp. He has yet to reach an ATP final.
Sock broke Edmund in the seventh game but the Briton broke back in the eighth and 10th games, capturing the first set in 59 minutes, then took only 29 more to finish off the match.
Blocking the world number 45’s path to the championship match of the US Open hardcourt tuneup in Atlanta is American fourth seed Ryan Harrison, who ousted 461stranked US wildcard Christopher Eubanks 6-1, 6-2.
Harrison, ranked 42nd, won his only ATP title in February at Memphis without dropping a set. He has never faced Edmund.
Saturday’s other semi-final pits third seed Gilles Muller, coming off a Wimbledon quarter-final run and upset of Rafael Nadal, against US second seed John Isner, coming off his first victory in two years last weekend in Newport.
Muller defeated US qualifier Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-1, in a quarter-final. The 34-year-old Luxembourg left-hander blasted 16 aces to oust the 20-year-old world number 291 in only 69 minutes.
Isner, a three-time Atlanta champion, fired 13 aces to oust Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 7-5, 6-4. Lacko’s second double fault of the match gave Isner the first break chance of the second set and the American took advantage for a 5-4 lead, then held serve to finish off his 129th-ranked foe after 73 minutes.