Sock ends 2017 on a high

Jack Sock’s 2017 did not always go as planned. Still, he’s having quite a finish.

He won a total of only three matches at Grand Slam tournaments all year, making it as far as the third round just once and bowing out in the opening round twice. During one particularly rough stretch from August to early October, he lost five times in a row.

The 25-year-old American turned things around at the end of the season, so much so that he ended up earning a debut appearance at the ATP Finals, starting with a match against 19-time major champion Roger Federer on Sunday in London.

“It’s hard when you have a bit of a period where it doesn’t go as well as you would like. So he had to get back to doing the things he does really well and really believing in those things,” Sock’s coach, Jay Berger, said in a telephone interview.

“That’s hitting a bunch of forehands, using his speed and using his intangibles,” Berger said. “His ability to come forward, his hands at the net, his ability to use his touch, his ability to hit pretty dynamic shots in very uncomfortable and difficult positions. And to have fun. The No. 1 thing for us was also to have fun out there. I told him, ‘We’re going to have a good time, win or lose.’”

In Wednesday’s draw for the round-robin format, Sock was put in a group with Federer, 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev. /