Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Last American standing
Sock could foil Nadal’s path to Federer in final
KEY BISCAYNE — Let’s face it, this week at the Miami Open is all about the tennis gods doing their darnedest to steer Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to a showdown in Sunday’s men’s final.
Jack Sock hopes to throw a wrench into those plans.
On the day he was named to the U.S. Davis Cup team for the upcoming match in Australia, the highest ranked American man (No. 17) became the nation’s last men’s hope in Miami.
Sock’s 6-2, 6-1 win over Jared Donaldson on Tuesday made him the next obstacle in the path of Nadal’s quest for a rematch of his memorable 2005 Miami final loss to Federer. Nadal and Federer stayed the course with wins in back-to-back matches on the Stadium Court at Crandon Park Tennis Center.
Federer won’t have to reprise last week’s Indian Wells final win over Swiss countryman Stan Wawrinka as the No. 1 seed was upset by No. 16 Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
While Federer-Nadal is the marquee culmination the tennis world wants to see this weekend,
Sock, 24, is playing the best tennis of his career and is riding a wave of success and confidence into Wednesday night’s quarterfinal match with Nadal.
“Yeah, physically, mentally never felt better or stronger, so just excited for the rest of the year,” Sock said. “I mean, yeah, the more matches you win the better you feel, the more confident you are.”
The Lincoln, Neb., native already has two titles this season (New Zealand, Delray Beach). Last week, he reached the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time before succumbing to Federer at Indian Wells.
He lost both of his previous meetings with Nadal, but they were two years ago, in Beijing and in the French Open, and he won a set both times.
Like Nadal, clay is Sock’s favored surface. That year Sock was seeded 23rd when he became the youngest U.S. man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Pete Sampras in 1993. Beijing was on the hard courts, like Miami.
“I think we’re both comfortable on clay or hard,” Sock said after dispatching Donaldson in just over an hour. “I’ll definitely give myself a lot more chance to win this time around than maybe I did a few years ago. I’m 24 years old now and been on tour for a while. I’m playing these matches and hoping I can win and going in believing I can win, for sure.”
No. 5 seed Nadal got by Nicolas Mahut in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (4), but it was a tight match. There was only one service break, which enabled Nadal to take a 5-4 lead in the first set. The Frenchman wavered on two unforced errors, sending a return long and then put a backhand into the net to hand the break to Nadal.
After both held serve throughout the second set, Nadal grabbed the upper hand in the tiebreaker and finally put Mahut away with his trademark forehand.
Federer had to endure tiebreakers in both sets to get past Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) in a match that lasted nearly two hours. His desire to avoid a third set was evident in the relish with which he slammed down an overhand winner on the final point.
The possible dream final is still days away, but the anticipation has been building for 12 years since Federer won a five-set classic that included two tiebreakers.
Nadal, now 30 but a teenage upstart then, was asked if he could have envisioned that he would go on to be a 14-time grand slam champ and still vying for supremacy with Federer, who at 35 recently won his record 18th?
“For me, it was something impossible to even dream about what happened later,” Nadal said. “I went day by day and enjoyed all the good things that happened to me. And here we are 12 years later.”
Still going day by day has Nadal getting set to deal with and up-and-coming Sock, a younger player with ambitions of laying claim to the good things success brings on the ATP Tour and with growing belief in his abilities.
“He’s a very aggressive player, a very powerful player — a big serve, big forehand. A good backhand too now; he plays quick with his backhand,” Nadal said of Sock. “I need to play aggressive, that’s the only way. If I let him play in a comfortable position it’s going to be impossible for me.”
Sock has made the jump into the top 20. The question is whether he is ready to take the measure of the top dogs.
“I’ve had chances in the past against some of those guys,” Sock said. “No, I don’t think I need any more time. I think I’m ready to beat them.”
The only other American still going in the men’s competition, Donald Young, fell to Fabio Fognini 6-0, 6-4.
Venus Williams became the lone U.S. woman to reach the quarterfinals (15 were in the draw) when she downed No. 7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 7-6 (4) late Monday in a matchup of former Miami Open champions.
That sets up an encounter Wednesday night with top-seeded Angelique Kerber, who has won four of six previous meetings.
Williams had to fend off two set points to force the tiebreaker with Kuznetsova, than battled back from 4-1 to close out the match.