Jack Sock Punches Out Ailing Mayer For First-round Win

Written by: Staff on 27th August 2012

Jack Sock Punches Out Ailing Mayer For First-round Win

epa03371775 Jack Sock of the US hits a return to Florian Mayer of Germany during their match on the first day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 27 August 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/JASON SZENES |

by Benjamin Snyder

(Original Story: http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/match_reports/2012-08-27/201208271346102784656.html?promo=home)

American Jack Sock advanced to the second round of the US Open after securing an upset over No. 22 seed Florian Mayer of Germany, who retired while trailing 6-3, 6-2, 3-2 after just under 90 minutes.

With a booming first serve and by unleashing forehand winners, the Lincoln, Neb., native secured one of the biggest wins of his young career, equaling his best showing in the singles event at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the process.

In front of a filled Grandstand, the American dictated play early on in the match, in which he hit 34 winners to eight from his opponent.

Sock, ranked a career-high No. 243, landed in New York for the US Open this year as a defending titlist, having championed the 2011 mixed doubles tournament with 2009 quarterfinalist and 2012 Birmingham winner Melanie Oudin.

This year, the duo will attempt to defend their title as wild cards in a draw set to be announced later this week.

Leading up to his first-round win this year, Sock played a rollercoaster ride of a summer, landing a collection of wild cards into the events on the North American hard-court swing. After a round-of-16 showing in Newport, the 19-year old notched his best result on the ATP Tour by making a run to the quarterfinals in Atlanta. There, Sock succumbed to top-ranked American John Isner, despite pushing the big-serving style of his opponent 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Following that burst in momentum, Sock, the first American US Open boys’ winner since Andy Roddick, failed to maintain the heightened form going into the remaining stops at the Emirates Airline US Open Series. He fell in the first round of both Los Angeles in the main event as a wild card and as a qualifier at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. At Winston-Salem the next week, Sock managed to win two matches, ultimately losing ahead of a main-draw appearance in his final qualifying match.

For Mayer, a titlist on clay at Bucharest last year, a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon highlighted a so-so summer season afterward. He came to New York this year looking to better his career-best third-round run at the US Open, which he earned last year.

Topics: American tennis news, Florian Mayer, jack sock, Sports, Tennis News, US Open 2012