Jack Sock ousts Teymuraz Gabashvili in opening round – JSM Challenger 2012
Seventh seed, Jack Sock, stomped over the Russian challenger, Teymuraz Gabashvili, in straight sets in his home soil event in Champaign, United States. He registered a 7-6(4), 6-6 retirement victory against the 27-year-old to reach the second round at the
JSM Challenger 2012, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place from 10th to 17th November.
The American seed overpowered the injured Gabashvili in their first encounter. After earning glory in two hours and seven minutes, he comfortably secured a place in the second round at this hard court tournament.
The 20-year-old smoothly entered the Champaign courts in front of his home crowd. He swiftly bagged his entire serves without facing any trouble. Despite squandering the lone break chance he found, the American cruised to a 5-1 lead in the tie-breaker before
closing out the opener with a 7-6(4) win.
Ranked 165th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Sock maintained consistency in his game in the proceeding set. He drew the first blood in the second game and jumped to a 2-0 lead. However, the American failed to keep his lead
and squandered his edge in the very next game.
Sock remained focused after that and kept remaining serves with poise. The Georgian-born on the other hand also remained in game kept his remaining serves. However, after the scores were tied at 6-6, Gabashvili sustained injury and was forced to pull out
from the tournament.
As a result, Sock set up a date with his compatriot, Bradley Klahn, in the round of 16. The world number 260 overpowered Tim Kopinski in one hour and seven minutes to set up this meeting.
The third seed, Denis Kudla, will join Sock in the second round. He dumped the British challenger, Joshua Milton, in straight sets in one hour and 27 minutes to advance. Kudla dropped his serve three times but cashed five out of 12 break chances to formulate
a 7-5, 6-3 score line. He clobbered a better first serve share of 61 per cent as compared to his rival’s 48 per cent and amazingly marked 26 out of 38 points on it.
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