Sock advances with Federer to ATP semis
In his ATP Finals debut, Jack Sock joined Roger Federer in the semifinals.
Sock, the first American to reach the final weekend at the season-ending tournament since Andy Roddick in 2007, beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to advance from his round-robin group on Thursday.
“I didn’t expect to be in London in the first place,” said Sock, who qualified only this month after winning the Paris Masters. “Paris was a big step for me. Now to put myself in the position to play on the weekend is another big step forward, another confidence-booster.” Sock again played an entertaining match at the O2 Arena, complete with another ‘tweener and even a point penalty for smashing a ball into the crowd.
But it was a pair of errors from Zverev in the final game that gave Sock the match. Trailing 5-4 and at 30-all, Zverev double-faulted for the eighth time to hand Sock a match point. The 20-year-old German then put a forehand wide to end it.
“Yeah, I choked,” Zverev said. “It’s quite easy. Won the second set 6-1. I was 1-0 with a break. He got a point penalty. I was down 1-4 within 10 minutes where I didn’t put many balls in the court.” Sock finished the group stage with a 2-1 record and will next face Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals on Saturday. His only loss came against Federer in his opening match.
Federer ended up 3-0 and won the group. He will face Dom- inic Thiem or David Goffin on Saturday.
In a rematch of the Wimbledon final against Marin Cilic earlier, Federer came out on top again. The second-ranked Swiss lost the first set but still won 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1.
HE SAID ALEXANDER ZVEREV Yeah, I choked