JUST LIKE OLD TIMES
It was like a precursor to the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament: The men’s draw at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., was essentially a busted bracket from the start. Among the eight seeded teams, only two advanced at least as the quarterfinals.
One of those high-profile teams that fell was the top seeds, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who were upset in the opening round by the 2018 tournament champs, John Isner and Jack Sock. From there, the Cinderellas then took out Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, the reigning Australian Open champs; Acapulco Open winners Stefanos Tsitsipas and Feliciano Lopez; and Andrey Golubev and Alexander Zverev.
That run put Sock and Isner in the final against Santiago Gonzalez—the veteran already having a career-best season—and the always-solid Edouard Roger-Vasselin, currently in the early stages of a comeback.
Coming back is something Sock has become familiar with over the past couple of years. Trying to reach his former heights in singles, the American took number-three seed Tsitsipas to a final-set tiebreak in the second round before falling. His run of good form continued on the doubles side, and in the championship match, he and Isner claimed the top prize after two hard-fought sets.
Sock and Isner won their third Masters title together, and it was also Sock’s third career title in the desert.
