Sock stuns Ferrer, Bautista Agut downs Tsonga in Auckland

Published 01/15/2016, 4:46 AM EST

Follow Us

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Rising American talent Jack Sock and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut will face off in the Auckland Classic final after stunning top seeds David Ferrer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals on Friday.

Sock upset four-times champion and world number eight Ferrer 3-6 6-1 6-2 before Bautista Agut also came from a set down to shock second seed Tsonga 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4 in last four action at the Australian Open warm-up.

American Sock’s impressive run in New Zealand had looked like coming to an end when, suffering from what he later described as flu-like symptoms, he lost the first set to the 33-year-old Ferrer.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The 23-year-old, however, shrugged off his aches and pains to charge to a 5-0 lead in the second and evened up the contest with a sizzling ace after top seed Ferrer had managed to hold serve for the first time in the set.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Sock kept up his energy levels in the decider and summoned up another ace, his 13th of the contest but this time off his second serve, to seal his first victory over a top 10 player in his last 10 attempts.

World number 10 Tsonga was looking for the confidence boost of a 13th title as he prepared for a meeting with fellow former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in the first round at Melbourne Park.

The 30-year-old Frenchman raced through the first set in little more than half an hour but hit a road bump in the second, despite taking the Spaniard’s first service game.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The world number 25 broke back immediately and took the second set on a tiebreak, only needing a single break in the decider to reach his fifth career ATP final.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by John O’Brien)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Dhruv George

14,311Articles

One take at a time

Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
Show More>