Jack Sock Defeats Florian Mayer At THe US Open 2012

Written by: Staff on 28th August 2012

Jack Sock Defeats Florian Mayer At THe US Open 2012

epa03371771 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 |

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Jack Sock continued his winning ways at the US Open on opening day Monday, upsetting No. 22-seeded German Florian Mayer after Mayer retired because of dizziness with Sock leading 6-3, 6-2, 3-2, on the Grandstand Court at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Sock, a 19-year-old wild card entry into the Open, won the 2011 mixed doubles title with Melanie Oudin and was the US Open boys’ champion in 2010.

Sock needed 1 hour, 24 minutes to capture his second US Open singles main draw victory. Last year Sock recorded his first ATP victory in the main draw at the Open, beating Marc Gicquel. He then lost in straight sets to fellow American Andy Roddick in a night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Mayer, who complained of feeling faint and dizzy following the second set, simply walked to the net to shake Sock’s hand, signaling the end of the match following the fifth game of the third set.

Sock came into this year’s tournament ranked 248th in the world and had never beaten a player in the world Top 50. He said he enjoyed playing on the Grandstand Court and that the electric New York crowd pulled him through the first two sets. “I mean, it’s the best,” said Sock, who starred for Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, graduating in May of 2011. “You can’t ask for a better tournament, a better atmosphere, a better environment. That Grandstand Court was awesome. The fans were pretty close and really into it. It was a great environment. I’d love to play on there again sometime.”

Sock said his serve was the key factor in the win. He had nine aces with just two double faults held serve 11 times without a break.

“I’d say my second serve was a 9.63,” Sock joked when asked to rate his serve on a scale from 1 to 10. “My serve was definitely pretty reliable when I was down. I was down Love-30 once or twice, down Love-40 once. I came up with some good serves, first-ball combos. I think that was the key, not letting him get a break and not letting him get some momentum back.

“I think my first serve was pretty good. I mean, when I missed the first serve, I think my second serve really helped me. I was able to start off the point ahead even with the second serve.”

Sock, who spent part of the summer training with Gil Reyes’ Adidas team in Las Vegas, will next face the winner of the Blaz Kavcic (Slovenia) and Flavio Cipolla (Italy) first-round match played late on Monday.

Sock said getting his first ATP win here last year helped his confidence. “Definitely winning last year gave me more confidence to try to advance in the draw as far as I can,” he said. “I’m going to try to use that and go as far as I can this year.”

During his match, it was announced that Sock and Oudin would play in the mixed doubles again as wild cards defending their title.

“People keep asking me that, If I’m going to play with Melanie,” he said. “Of course, we’re going to play. We’re going to try and do what we can again.”

Topics: Blaz Kavcic, Flavio Cipolla, Florian Mayer, jack sock, Melanie Oudin, Sports, Tennis News, US Open 2012, Usta Billie Jean King National Tennis Center