Jack Sock ousts Bradley Klahn to enter quarters – JSM Challenger 2012
Seventh seed, Jack Sock, trashed his compatriot, Bradley Klahn, in straight sets in their home soil tournament taking place from 10th to 17th November in Champaign, United states. He jolted down a 6-4, 7-5 victory against the world
number 260 to advance into the final eight at the JSM Challenger of Champaign on Wednesday.
The higher ranked American proved to be a better person on the hard courts of Champaign. Battling each other for the first time, Sock needed one hour and 25 minutes to outsmart his fellow citizen and book a spot in the last eight.
Sock thundered into this hard court tournament. He drew the first blood in the opening game and took the initial lead. The seeded American maintained consistency in his game and slid his entire serves, eventually sealing the opener by winning six games to
four. He was never challenged with any breakpoint and capitalised on one out of two break chances to inch towards his goal.
Ranked 165th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Sock kept momentum floating in the following set. He got the crucial break in the third game and leaped to a 3-1 lead. Apart from losing his edge in the eighth game, the seed stayed
focused and kept his remaining serves with self-assurance. He got the breakthrough in the 11th game and clinched the set with a 7-5 score line. Sock dusted away two out of three breakpoints he faced and converted half of the four break chances to
his advantage.
The right-handed American struck six aces and prevailed throughout the match. He clobbered a lower first serve share of 55 per cent as compared to his rival’s 73 per cent but spectacularly marked 36 out of 40 points on it.
Next challenge for Sock is his top seeded compatriot, Michael Russell, who overpowered the wild card recipient, Devin Britton, in straight sets to set up this meeting.
The Australian challenger, John-Patrick Smith, will accompany Sock in the quarter-finals. He battled past his qualifying compatriot, Chris Guccione, in a three-set thriller in just under two hours. Smith lost his serve twice but capitalised on two out of
six break chances to pocket the match and advance.
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