[CR12] Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs. [CR26] Jack Sock (USA)
After such a promising start at this tournament, Sock reverted to old habits. At least it appeared that way in the first set, which was over before I could get comfortable in my couch to watch the match. As an avid tennis fan, with a particular interest in American players, I get frustrated when I see a talented player like Sock appear so uninterested. It may be misleading; however, I have watched too many of his matches to know that often he’s not there mentally. The thing about sports, when you are young you fail to realize the importance of maximizing your potential and before you know it, you are older and trying to make up for those lost years of disinterest.
If he wants to win the big titles, he has to commit to grinding out matches even when he is having an off day; that’s what the top players do consistently. Sock must have sensed my frustration across the ocean; he pulled it together mentally and won the next two sets with the identical 6-4 score. Sock had the advantage of serving first and probably in the recesses of his mind knew that Anderson struggles mentally with leads and would have problems closing out the match. Unfortunately for Anderson, that’s exactly what happened. Down 4-5, he could not hold serve to stay in the set in the second or in the match in the third and lost despite his brilliant start in the first set. Sock moved on to semifinals with the 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Anderson and will most likely face David Ferrer next.
