Sock leads smallest U.S. men’s group since 1947

LONDON — The seven U.S. men in the Wimbledon main draw represent the country’s smallest contingent since 1947, when only five played at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Three are scheduled to be in firstround action Tuesday: 31st-seeded Jack Sock, 37th-ranked Sam Querrey, and 77th-ranked Tim Smyczek.

The 22-year-old Sock — who was born in Nebraska, later lived in the Kansas City area, and now is based in Florida — is seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in singles. A year ago at the All England Club, he lost in the second round of singles, but he won the men’s doubles championship with Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver.

On Tuesday, Sock will face Sam Groth of Australia, a big server who is ranked 69th, in a rematch of sorts. Sock and Pospisil eliminated Groth and Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round of doubles on Monday.

Querrey meets 170th-ranked qualifier Igor Sisling of the Netherlands, while Smyczek plays 30th-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, a volatile sort who was fined $27,500 last year at Wimbledon for outbursts during a victory.

Three of the four U.S. men who were in action Monday won: 17thseeded John Isner, 52nd-ranked Steve Johnson and 105th-ranked wild-card entry Denis Kudla, who eliminated 28th-seeded Pablo Cuevas.