American Jack Sock sent Marin Cilic crashing out of the U.S. Open in the third round Friday, defeating the 2014 champion, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
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Jack Sock produced an excellent performance to dispatch of 2014 US Open victor Marin Cilic and advance to the fourth round. He’s fresh off a two-medal performance at the Olympics, winning gold in mixed doubles and bronze in men’s doubles.
The 26th-seeded Sock won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday, taking all 14 of his service games and never facing so much as one break point.
The No. 26 seed surprised No. 7 Marin Cilic with an emphatic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory Friday to advance to the fourth round.
Sock has reached the final 16 of a major one other time, a year ago at the French Open.
“There’s nothing better than playing in front of the home crowd here in NY”.
In another third-round men’s singles result Friday, Serbian top seed and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic advanced to the round of 16 when Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny retired with a leg injury while trailing 2-4 in the first set.
Cilic is known for his formidable serve, but he produced one fewer ace than Sock’s seven and got just 49 per cent of his first serves in. “So I try to think about what I did last year, what I’ve done in other years”.
Tsonga finally earned a match point on his own serve, and closed things out with a blistering and unplayable serve that put him into the last 16.
“Feels great. It was a big match for me”.
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Sock said improving his return of serve has been a key. I think I’ve gotten a pretty good hold on that. “I’m executing it well and I feel like I know what I’m going to do on nearly every point”.
