Jo-Wilfried Tsonga exposes Jack Sock's limitations in methodical fourth-round win

NEW YORK—In researching Jack Sock for a profile about the American this summer, most coaches and commentators spoke to the 23-year-old’s steady progress and immense potential. Sock’s forehand, with its nearly unrivaled combination of spin and speed, is commonly cited as one of the game’s best, and he’s used it to stake his claim near the Top 20.

The most cautious words came from, of all people, Brad Gilbert, who’s never been shy in supporting players representing the red, white and blue.

“I think he has to improve his backhand, because right now he relies on going from alley to alley and hitting forehands,” said Gilbert, the former coach of American greats Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi. “I think he can improve his serve more, and his fitness level.”

I thought of Gilbert’s cautious comments throughout Sock’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2 loss to ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. It wasn’t as if Sock’s reliance on his signature shot was any kind of revelation, but it became all the more apparent when he was contrasted with Tsonga, a deceptively versatile player who wins with much more than power. Summer weekends, even those cooled down by a pleasant breeze, are not the time to lose electricity—which Sock did, hitting 39 unforced errors (many via the forehand). By the tail end of this three-hour and 13-minute match, Sock overheated, failing to bring the necessary focus to a must-win set that he dropped in uncompetitive fashion.

Sock’s serve, such a weapon in his impressive third-round upset of Marin Cilic, also let him down. He won just 68 percent of his first-serve points—not a horrible conversion rate, but compared with Tsonga’s 83-percent mark, it was a portentous statistic.

“I thought he served well at times when he needed to,” said Sock. “He would come up with some big ones and some second serves. Come up with some big seconds."

As fertile as Tsonga’s serve was, it was but a part of his well-rounded triumph. Lithe but strong, the Frenchman brought an arsenal to Louis Armstrong Stadium, as opposed to Sock’s elaborate but one-note weapon. It made for entertaining theater, but Tsonga’s all-court versatility regularly prevailed.

Sock’s first stand came when he trailed 2-1 in the second set, having earned a break point. Tsonga erased it with two confident volleys and silenced the surge with a game-winning ace. In taking a two-set lead, Tsonga navigated the court like a seasoned tour guide, using his defense and ground strokes to frustrate and deflate his young opponent.

“I wasn't able to push him back, get neutral a lot,” said Sock. “He was able to move me around a lot with the forehand.”

Tsonga’s massive edge in experience played a big part in Sunday’s outcome, but many of Sock’s faults were self-inflicted. Serving at 3-2 in the second set, Tsonga faced a break point and saved it with an ace. After winning the next point, Tsonga dashed behind the baseline and returned a strong Sock forehand with a squash shot; the ball fluttered over the net. I was certain Sock would over-swing and put it into the net, but I was only partially right—he sailed it long.

Sock should be commended for his compete level in the third set—after saving a match point in a tiebreaker, he ran around a Tsonga second serve and swatted a forehand return winner to force a fourth—and Tsonga said so after the match. But after whipping the capacity crowd into a frenzy, Sock was unable to sustain his level in the fourth set and meekly ended his tournament. After the loss, Sock tossed his shoes into the stands.

“It's still fresh right now, so pretty upset,” said Sock. But once I have a little time to myself, with my team, we'll definitely look back and take away all the positives from it. Keep your head up and move forward.

“In the grand scheme of things, it's a tennis match. Obviously I wanted to win and keep playing, but there's going to be another one in a few weeks, another tournament, another match. I can improve and keep going. That's a positive thing about tennis."

Tsonga moves on to his third career U.S. Open quarterfinal, where he’ll face Kyle Edmund or, more likely, Novak Djokovic. Asked if he’d like to see the Serb and Brit play an extended contest in hopes of tiring the winner out, Tsonga concurred.

“Really long,” Tsonga said. “Really, really, really long.”

Given Djokovic’s walkover win in the second round, and adversary Mikhail Youzhny’s first-set retirement in the third round, just getting one set’s exertion from the world No. 1 would be a plus.