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.
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Similarly in the second set, a break point would give Sock an 3-1 advantage.
Ultimately, however, Baghdatis – in his 13th season as a professional – made the most of his experience to make the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2009 Australian Open.
Marin Cilic, of Croatia, reacts after a shot to Rogerio Dutra Silva, of Brazil, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016, in NY.
― Reuters picNEW YORK, Sept 3 ― American Jack Sock knocked former champion Marin Cilic out of the US Open yesterday in a power-packed 6-4 6-3 6-3 third-round victory at Flushing Meadows.
With the win, the 26th-seeded Sock matched his previous best grand slam advance, having reached the fourth round at last year’s French Open. Cilic came to NY with Cincinnati title, and he was very solid through his opening 2 matches here, but this just wasn’t his day, with nothing working in his favor.
“I feel like I’m definitely more on a mission this year”, Sock said.
Sock said improving his return of serve has been a key. “But I just knew that if I stayed in the match that I could maybe have a chance to come back, and get back into it”. And as good as his serving was, with a top speed of 138 miles per hour and 86 percent of first-serve points won, Socks returns were in fine form, too: He broke Cilic four times.
Two days after collapsing in the NY heat en route to a three-set second-round victory, Britain’s Johanna Konta reached the round of 16 with no fuss.
“My goal is to be competing to win tournaments that I’m playing instead of just (being) content with making a quarter”, Sock said. Marin lost his serve twice, in 3rd and 9th games to find himself 2-0 down, with a lot of work to do if he wanted to make a turnaround. He won the next game on his serve but could not continue, giving Djokovic a pass into the round of 16. Looking further ahead, if Sock were to beat Tsonga he’d likely take on Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
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Sock, the 26th seed, looked every bit the Grand Slam contender he wants to be in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over the seventh-seeded Croatian, never facing a break point and breaking Cilic four times. “I’ll try to get the positives out of these six games”. The final set produced the worst tennis from both, with 5 back-to-back breaks from game 3 all the way up to 4-3.
