JACK Sock has fallen at the first hurdle at the French Open against a player he beat two weeks ago in Rome.
The 14th-seeded American recorded his worse result ever at the clay-court Grand Slam, losing 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round to Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.
Sock, who made it to the fourth round in Paris two years ago and had always advanced at least to the second round in four previous appearances, hit 39 unforced errors and dropped serve six times.
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Sock went to the island of Mallorca ahead of the French Open, planning to train with Rafael Nadal. Didn’t work out that way.
“It was supposed to be with Rafa,” Sock lamented, “until he won Monte Carlo and Barcelona and every tournament he plays.”
US Jack Sock returns the ball to Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely.Source:AFP
So Nadal took some time off, and Sock wound up practising with lower-tier players. Then he came to Roland Garros and endured a first-round exit at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
“Overall,” the highest-ranked American man summed up, “pretty horrendous day for me.”
He added: “I tried to get back in it, but when I was missing so many shots I was missing, seemed like an inevitable loss for me.”
Sock — who was born in Nebraska, grew up in Kansas and now is based in Florida — did not offer much in the way of specific explanations for what he thought went wrong.
Vesely, who is ranked 57th and entered the day with a 2-4 record at the French Open, never advancing past the second round. Sock, in contrast, had only once before failed to get past the second round in Paris, including a trip to the fourth round in 2015.
Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely.Source:AFP
“Pretty huge disappointment, especially on a surface I really enjoy playing. Great memories here,” he said.
“But need to get home, regroup, take a little break from tennis for a minute, get the energy and enthusiasm back.”
He said he thinks he will need to reassess his schedule, maybe finding space for more time off by playing fewer tournaments.
“If I feel fresh and energised and excited to play for a week,” he said, “that’s when I do my best.”
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One thing Sock is certain about: “I will not,” he said, “be in Mallorca next year.”
In addition to Sock, two of the four seeded U.S. women in the French Open have lost their first-round matches.
No. 19 CoCo Vandeweghe was beaten by Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-4, while No. 25 Lauren Davis was eliminated by Carina Witthoeft of Germany 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Vandeweghe was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January, but she never has been past the second round in six appearances at Roland Garros. Davis’ career record in Paris is now 1-6.
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Originally published as US ace’s ‘horrendous’ French Open exit
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