PARIS—Allow me to go out on a limb here: The future of American tennis is locked up in the right arm of a 20-year-old kid who stands 6’1”, but is built on the platform of a pick-up truck rather than a sedan. He’s a Midwesterner who bleeds Nebraska red and packs an atomic serve. And no, I’m not fantasizing about the return of Andy Roddick. I’m talking about that other Cornhusker, Jack Sock.
Today at Roland Garros, Sock, who qualified for the main draw, knocked off Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. That’s the same Garcia-Lopez who knows a thing or two about playing on clay, and waxed Sock (6-4, 6-2) just two weeks ago in the first round of the Bordeaux Challenger.
So what’s the big deal, you ask? Doesn’t everyone play a lights out match now and then?
Well, yes. But this match generated a different kind of feeling, a special feeling, which is not necessarily a true or accurate analysis of anything. But it points to a door and challenges you to open it, or become one of those people who end up saying things like, “I knew he’d be great, I just never said anything to anyone about it. But honest, I knew!”
Furthermore, there were numerous elements in the way Sock won suggesting that this was anything but one of those one-hour and 58-minute sojourns in the mythic zone to which every player is entitled now and then. Garcia-Lopez trotted out the wiles he’s accumulated through his many years on tour. The 29-year-old spent a fair amount of time getting in the face of service line judges and challenged numerous calls. He took a long bathroom break after he lost the second set. Then there was a lengthy rain delay. The match began at 1:52 in the afternoon and didn't end until Sock blasted an inside-out forehand approach winner off a Garcia-Lopez serve return at 5:19.There was nothing Veni, vedi, vici about this one if you look beyond the scoreline.
Sock emerged on Court 3 under sodden skies, and for a moment you could have mistaken him for a Swedish Davis Cup star. He’s as broad and muscular as some of those boys, and he was clothed in a bright blue, yellow, and white kit that lent a welcome, cheery note on this otherwise miserable day.
By contrast, Garcia-Lopez cut a conservative, almost somber image in crisp black shorts and a white shirt with just a few touches of color. Most Spanish players either look like an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog model or a drummer in a garage band. Garcia-Lopez looks like he could be an insurance claims adjuster.
Of course, none of that matters once the ball is in play, and from the onset Sock played with remarkable, explosive energy. He broke serve in the third game of the first set, and again in the fifth. He suffered a slight lapse in the second set, surrendering a break in the second game, but he earned it back in the fifth game when he crushed a cross-court forehand winner on his fourth re-break point. The next game might have been the key to the match. Sock trailed 15-40 but recovered to hold and consolidate the break—after which he broke Gracia-Lopez again, punctuating the game with a resounding shout of “Yeah!”
Sock served out the set, and then slumped in his chair, zoning out, while Garcia-Lopez wandered off to find the men’s room. It might not have been very wise for Sock to just sit there resting during the delay, but it had no ill effect. He held the first game of the third set,and appeared to deliver a killing blow when he broke Garcia-Lopez for a 2-1 lead. But the skies opened up, and put the match on hold for an hour and 20 minutes.
So, for the second time on this dreary day, Garcia-Lopez was given an opportunity to re-group. Sock picked up right where he’d left off, but wasn’t quite able to avoid a near crisis when Garcia-Lopez broke back for 3-all and held his next service game. Sock was in danger of falling behind 3-5 twice in the next game, but coolly served an ace and a service winner to get back to deuce and then won the game. After a pair of holds, he broke Garcia-Lopez again for 6-5, and played another strong game to win the match.
I went through chapter and verse here partly to show how well Sock managed the match, and to highlight one of his great, unteachable strengths—the relish and relaxed spirit with which he competes. “Playing main-draw matches helps, and playing in front of crowds and playing in big matches definitely helps, getting them all under your belt,” Sock said afterward. I like playing in front of people, I like the big stages. I mean, the more the merrier. And, yeah, it’s fun.”
“Fun?” Doesn’t this guy know about how Americans are supposed to feel about clay, or share the grim resolve with which most pros compete?
