London: Jack Sock became the first American to reach the last four of the ATP Finals in 10 years when he stunned World No.3 Alexander Zverev in a firecracker of a match at the O2 Arena here, Thursday. The last American to reach the semifinals was Andre Agassi.
The World No.9, who barged through the back door to qualify for the event here by winning the Paris Masters, triumphed 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to prolong his London adventure.
Roger Federer had already won the Boris Becker group earlier, having battled back to beat Marin Cilic 6-7(5-7), 6-4, 6-1 to post a perfect round-robin record at the event for a 10th time.
Talk of a possible Federer-Zverev re-match in Sunday’s final, after their high-quality duel Tuesday, was doing the rounds but Sock, nicknamed ‘Showtime’, was not listening.
The 25-year-old from Kansas looked to have blown himself out when a 4-1 lead evaporated in the decider, but the 20-year-old Zverev admitted later he ‘choked’ when serving at 4-5, double faulting and then bunting a forehand wide to hand Sock victory.
“That was a rollercoaster of a match for sure, that’s been the theme of my last few weeks, hang in there and keep fighting,” Sock, who seemed to be imploding when he received a penalty point at the start of the third set, said on court.
Sock mixes eye-watering power with a deft touch and it was that combination that disrupted Zverev’s smooth power.
The American broke for a 4-3 lead in the first set but then almost gifted it straight back, recovering from 0-40 with five unanswered points to lead 5-3. Two games later a nonchalant drop shot, one of the favourite tricks in his locker, gave him first blood.
Zverev took the second set in the blink of an eye, although Sock carried on entertaining the crowd, as he has done all week, and at one point attempted a lob played through his legs rather than dispatching a routine forehand.
When Sock dropped serve at the start of the third set after some incredible defence by Zverev, it looked like the German had taken control. But Sock broke back immediately and then again in the fourth game to lead 3-1 and it soon became 4-1.
Zverev battled back, but it proved in vain as a season which earned him five titles came to a sudden halt. “I choked. It’s quite easy,” said Zverev. “When I got back at 4-5 that’s one of the worst games I think I played all year.”
Federer had already booked a semifinal spot with his win over Zverev but there was no chance of him letting up on Cilic. Federer was in danger at 4-4, 30-30 in the second set, having lost the opening tie-break, but turned on the style to win his 55th career match at the tournament.
Reuters