Jack Sock
Jack Sock is an American former professional tennis player and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 in singles and world No. 2 in doubles.
Sock won four major doubles tennis titles: one in mixed doubles at the 2011 US Open partnering with Melanie Oudin, and three in men's doubles, first at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships partnering with Vasek Pospisil, and then in the 2018 Wimbledon Championships and 2018 US Open partnering with Mike Bryan. Sock also won the 2018 ATP Finals doubles title partnering with Bryan. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sock won both a gold medal in mixed doubles partnering with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and a bronze medal in men's doubles partnering with Steve Johnson.
In tennis singles, Sock is a former junior US Open champion, victor at the 2017 Paris Masters, and semifinalist at the 2017 ATP Finals.
Personal life
Sock moved from Nebraska to Kansas at the age of 11.He graduated from Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kansas, and finished his KSHSAA 6A high school tennis career with an 80–0 record and four consecutive state championships in singles. In high school, he also played doubles with his brother Eric, and they won the team state championship together in Jack's sophomore year. Jack went on to win two more team state championships after Eric graduated and began playing college tennis at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Jack and Eric also played doubles at the ATP Tour level as a wild card entry in the 2017 BB&T Atlanta Open.
Philanthropy
Sock appeared at the Match for Africa 5 alongside Roger Federer, Bill Gates and Savannah Guthrie on March 5, 2018 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The friendly, best-of-three sets, charity exhibition match raised $2.5 million to benefit children's education in Africa, with net proceeds going to the Roger Federer Foundation. Federer won the singles match 7–6, 6–4 and the doubles match 6–3.Junior career
As a junior, Sock reached No. 22 in the world combined rankings in October 2010. He played his first ITF junior tournament in October 2008, at age 16, at the Pan American Championships. At the 2009 US Open, his third junior tournament, he reached the semifinals of the junior doubles with Matthew Kandath, and the third round of the junior singles.Sock played relatively infrequently on the junior circuit, however, entering just two further tournaments: the Dunlop Orange Bowl in 2009 and the junior singles at the 2010 U.S. Open. At this tournament, he received a wildcard entry, but proceeded to the final. There, he defeated fellow American Denis Kudla in three sets, to become the first American winner of the junior championships since Andy Roddick in 2000. He won the Boy's Junior National Tennis Championship in 2010 and 2011, earning a wildcard in both years for the main draw of the US Open.
Professional career
Early career
Sock began playing in Futures tournaments in 2009, winning his first senior tournament on that circuit in November 2009. He entered his first qualifying draw for an ATP tournament at the 2010 Miami Masters. His first main-draw match as a professional came at the 2010 US Open, where he lost to Marco Chiudinelli. Sock finished the 2010 season ranked 878th in the world.In 2011, he reached the final of the USA F3 tournament. He also began to play in a few tournaments at Challenger level, with his biggest success being a quarterfinal at the Dallas Challenger. He competed in the main draw of the 2011 Miami Masters. As 2010 US Junior champion, he received a wildcard into the 2011 US Open, winning his first ATP match against Marc Gicquel in four sets. He advanced to play Andy Roddick, a fellow Nebraskan, in the second round; however, he lost in straight sets. Sock's real breakthrough came in the mixed doubles, however, where he advanced to the final alongside Melanie Oudin, defeating the defending champions Bob Bryan and Liezel Huber in the second round. In the final, Sock and Oudin defeated Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank in three sets to win their first Grand Slam title, both individually and together.
After winning his first Grand Slam title, Sock returned to competing on the Challenger Tour. His most successful tournament was the Sacramento Challenger, in which he reached the quarterfinals of the singles tournament and, partnering with Nicholas Monroe, the final of the doubles tournament. Sock finished 2011 ranked No. 381 in singles and No. 370 in the doubles.
In 2012, Sock won the Futures tournament at Plantation, as well as losing in the doubles final. Stepping back up to the Challenger level, he competed at the Honolulu Challenger, making the quarterfinals of the singles tournament and, alongside Nick Monroe, once again made the final of the doubles tournament.
Sock played in the 2012 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, and lost in the second round to Izak van der Merwe. Sock's next tournament was the 2012 BB&T Atlanta Open. He upset the seventh seed, Alex Bogomolov, Jr. He made it to the quarterfinals, where he lost to John Isner. At the US Open, Sock defeated the 22nd seed, Florian Mayer, in the first round when Mayer retired. He then went on to defeat world No. 85 Flavio Cipolla of Italy in straight sets, setting up his first ever Grand Slam third round match against 11th seed Nicolás Almagro, but was defeated in four sets. In the final two months of the 2012 season, Sock reached his first two Challenger Tour finals, winning at Tiburon in October and finishing as runner-up in the November Champaign-Urbana Challenger. These finals helped him rise to the top 150 for the first time.
2013: Top 100
Sock had a slow start to 2013, losing in qualifying at the Brisbane International and the 2013 Australian Open. However, he received a wildcard entry into the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, in which he gained his first wins of the season, reaching the quarterfinals for the second time in his career. In the doubles competition at the same tournament, Sock teamed up with James Blake, also a wildcard entry, reaching the final, where the pair lost to the Bryan brothers. Sock made it through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set to enter the main draw of the 2013 French Open. In the first round, he defeated the accomplished player Guillermo García López in only 1 hour and 59 minutes. He then lost to 35-year-old veteran Tommy Haas in straight sets.He tried to qualify for Wimbledon for the first time, but although seeded second, lost to Mischa Zverev. He returned to the US to win his second career Challenger level title in Winnetka, Illinois on July 6, allowing him to break into the top 100 for the first time in his career. At the US Open, he defeated Philipp Petzschner in the first round, going 5 games to 2 up in the third set before Petzschner retired. Sock then went on to beat Maximo Gonzalez, However, he lost to 18th seed Janko Tipsarević in the third round. Following the US Open, his ranking rose to No. 86.
2014: Major doubles title
Sock began his 2014 campaign in Auckland against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. His aggressive playing style was too much for his opponent, and he won in straight sets to set up a match with German second seed Tommy Haas. In a considerable upset, Sock defeated the world No. 12 in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. There he faced Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, but lost in straight sets. He then gained his first direct entry into the Australian Open main draw, after having failed to qualify the previous year. He started strongly, defeating German Tobias Kamke in four sets in his opening match, before losing to former world No. 7 Gaël Monfils in the second round.At Wimbledon, Sock at the last moment teamed up with Canadian Vasek Pospisil, and they won the men's doubles title in a five-set final against the top seeds, Bob and Mike Bryan.
Sock beat Bernard Tomic and world No. 6 Kei Nishikori to reach the third round of the 2014 Shanghai Rolex Masters.
In December, he underwent hip surgery, sidelining him for the start of the 2015 season.
2015: Top 25, First ATP singles title
After missing the first two months of 2015 ATP season, Sock made his return at 2015 BNP Paribas Open. He won his first three matches, including victories over seeded players Gilles Müller and Roberto Bautista Agut. He lost in the fourth round to second seed Roger Federer in straight sets. In doubles, he resumed his partnership with Pospisil to win their first Masters level tournament.His second tournament was the 2015 Miami Open, in which he won his first two matches, including beating 21st seed Fabio Fognini, before losing to Dominic Thiem in the third round. He made the doubles final, again partnering with Pospisil, but lost in a third-set tiebreaker to the Bryan brothers.
Sock continued his successful start to the year by winning his first ATP tournament, the 2015 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships. En route to the title, he knocked off second seed Roberto Bautista Agut, fifth seed Santiago Giraldo, third seed Kevin Anderson, and eighth seed Sam Querrey in the final. He then competed in the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain, advancing to the second round by beating wildcard Pablo Andújar in straight sets, before losing to 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
At the French Open, Sock upset 10th seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the first round in straight sets. He continued his run by beating Pablo Carreño Busta in four sets and teenager Borna Ćorić in straight sets. At age 22, he became the youngest American to reach the round of 16 at the French Open since Pete Sampras in 1993. In the fourth round, he lost in four sets to defending champion Rafael Nadal.
Sock collapsed at the US Open, and was forced to retire against Ruben Bemelmans despite being ahead in the match.
On November 2, Sock reached the top 25 for the first time in his career. For the second straight year, he and Pospisil finished 9th in the ATP Doubles Race to London rankings, just barely failing to qualify for the year-end championship tournament.