SERENA HEADLINES EMOTIONAL DAY IN INDIAN WELLS, SOCK ALSO INVOLVED BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 14th March 2015

SERENA HEADLINES EMOTIONAL DAY IN INDIAN WELLS, SOCK ALSO INVOLVED BY RICKY DIMON

epa04661430 Serena Williams of the USA reacts as she is cheered as she enters the court prior to her match against Monica Niculescu of Romania during their second round match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 13 March 2015. This is Serena Williams first time back to this tournament after a 14 year boycott. EPA/MICHAEL NELSON |

Emotional scenes ruled the day on the two biggest courts at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. There were tears–real tears, and a lot of them–on both Stadium 1 and Stadium.

Serena Williams of the US in action during her second round match against Monica Niculescu of Romania at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 13 March 2015. Serena Williams is returning to play at India Wells after boycotting the tournament for 14 years. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

The dominant story, of course, was the end of a 13-year hiatus from the event for Serena Williams. Having stayed away from Indian Wells in the aftermath of a racially-charged incident in 2001, Serena finally returned and played her first match during the night session.

Although unanimous cheers were expected when Serena walked onto the court, fears of possible jeers lingered over the atmosphere. Those qualms were put to rest when Serena was welcomed with open arms in the form of a prolonged standing ovation. The 100-percent positivity moved Serena to tears as she arrived at her chair and readied for battle against Monica Niculescu (rarely is the result of a tennis match a side-note, but that’s exactly what the world No. 1’s 7-5, 7-5 victory was).

“It was a bit overwhelming,” Serena commented. “I didn’t know what to expect. It was such a warm feeling. It made me feel incredibly well.

“I just felt so good to be out there.” she added when asked about the crying. “I felt like I made the right decision and I knew I wanted to do it. I knew I really wanted to do it. But up until that moment I didn’t really know if it was the right thing for me to do. I feel like that’s when I felt it was the right thing. And receiving the love from the crowd here, it really meant a lot to me.”

Jack Sock of the USA reacts after winning his second round match against Japan’s Kei Nishikori at the Shanghai Tennis Masters in Shanghai, China, 08 October 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

On the men’s side, Jack Sock was also making an overdue comeback of sorts. Sock had been expecting to return from a hip injury last fall in Memphis and Delray Beach. But the mental strain of a far more serious matter forced the American to change plans.

Sock’s brother, Eric, was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. Eric required life support and was “one day away from dying” according to Jack. Last month, though, Eric made a drastic and complete recovery.

Thus the door was opened for Jack to mentally and physically resume his tennis career. That’s what he did on Thursday, when Sock survived a roller-coaster affair with Yen-Hsun Lu to prevail 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-5.

Dedicating this tournament to his bother, Sock cried his way through an on-court interview before speaking to the press.

“Since he’s been out of the hospital I have written, ‘For you, Eric’ on my shoes,” Sock explained. “It’s just a good reminder out there that obviously this is my career and my living and everything, but (it) kind of puts in a different perspective and you’re kind of playing for more.

“When you’re out there and you get frustrated missing a ball or whatever it is, you can kind of think (of what) he’s been through–almost not making it to a miraculous recovery. (It) kind of puts things in perspective. Just go out there and enjoy it, and you can play a little more free.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: BNP Paribas Open, BNPPO15, Indian Wells, jack sock, Ricky Dimon, Serena Williams, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

March 14, 2015 at 8:47 am

-@serenawilliams HEADLINES EMOTIONAL DAY IN #IndianWells, @JackSock ALSO INVOLVED BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/GTjvbhrFhX #tennis #BNPPO15
BarioMarioboss says:

March 14, 2015 at 10:12 am

RT @TennisNewsOne: SERENA HEADLINES EMOTIONAL DAY IN INDIAN WELLS, SOCK ALSO INVOLVED BY RICKY DIMON http://t.co/Bn7BNfUFOF #tennis

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