Loyal Sock happy to repay the faith at Classic
The return of Jack Sock to next month’s ASB Classic shows that there is still a place for loyalty in professional sport.
The 25-year-old Sock is the defending champion of the Classic and up to No 8 in the world rankings.
That’s the point where players start thinking about skipping tournaments the week before the Australian Open and choose to train in Melbourne instead.
But Sock is bucking that trend and will be back in Auckland for the second week in January, looking to make it three finals in a row at the Classic.
Appearance fees play a part in any decision where a top player goes, but for Sock so too does loyalty and the fact that tournament director Karl Budge gave him a wildcard when he was outside the top 100 as a 21-year-old in 2014.
‘‘I have great memories of playing in Auckland,’’ Sock said. ‘‘They were kind enough to give me a wildcard years ago when I was starting on tour, so I always feel Auckland is a special place for me.
‘‘The centre court there is a blast to play on, the crowd is always enthusiastic and they’re into the matches, so it’s a fun tournament to play.’’
Budge says it’s been a policy of his to identify the best young players and bring them to Auckland with wildcards, hoping to be rewarded later in the player’s career.
‘‘What I’m most proud of during my time here is our track record of who we’ve
Budge said.
‘‘We supported Jelena Ostapenko out of nowhere and we did the same with Ana Konjuh.
‘‘Jack has obviously gone very well for us. We had Dominic Thiem a couple of years ago and while we haven’t seen him back, it’s something he always remembers and it might be the difference in getting him, if one year he’s choosing between us and Sydney.
‘‘Maybe he does pick us because we looked after him all those years ago.’’
However, during this year’s Wimbledon Sock told Stuff he might not be back again.
‘‘TBD. I’m not sure yet,’’ he said after defeating Christian Garin in the first round at the grass court Grand Slam. brought through,’’
‘‘I have to sit down with my team and coaches and figure out my schedule for that year.’’
But speaking to Stuff again last week he said he naturally had other things on his mind at Wimbledon.
‘‘I like to plan well ahead, but I guess at that time I was thinking about Wimbledon,’’ he said.
‘‘I had a lot of things going on, my knee injury and I was really focused on trying to get healthy and seeing if I could play that tournament.’’
Sock claimed his place the tennis elite in 2017.
As well as winning in Auckland, he also took the title at Delray Beach and most significantly won
I have great memories of playing in Auckland. Jack Sock
among the Paris Masters, which propelled him inside the top 10 for the first time and booked a spot at the season ending Masters Finals in London, the first American to do so since Mardy Fish in 2011.
There, he defeated Maran Cilic and Alexander Zverev to reach the semifinals, before losing to Grigor Dimitrov 4-6 6-0 6-3.
So all that talk about Sock being America’s successor to Andy Roddick had finally eventuated.
Sock said he did allow himself a moment to reflect on the year, but just a brief one.
‘‘I spent time with family and friends, people close to me, to get their thoughts on it,’’ he said.
‘‘But it’s a quick turnaround, I had a little bit of time to enjoy it and then I’m right back into my work.’’