Jack Sock drives a forehand
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The future of American men's tennis will be on display Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, and if you have a ticket, you are getting an early Christmas present.
Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock will be looking to earn a spot "Down Under", but with the tennis they have played this weekend, their stock is rising up and up.
Harrison, from Cortez, FL played his second collegiate opponent in as many days, and he edged out a .4-6, 6-2, 9-7 win over University of Tennessee sophomore Rhyne Williams. No tie-breaker is used in this single-elimination tournament, and Harrision wasn't concerned, "The U.S. Open is the only Slam that uses the tie-breaker to decide a match so I’m used to it. I had a couple of matches at the French Open that were long and had the chance to go the distance but I’ve actually never had to do it in the pros. But you want to prepare yourself anyway."
Sock, from Lincoln , Neb. , rolled his ankle up 3-2 in the second set against Denis Kudla of Arlington , Va. , and had to call a medical timeout, but was able to pull through. He started strong and closed out his rival Kudla 6-2, 7-5.
Following his win, Sock already had his sights set on Harrison, "Ryan’s a very good player and I just have to play my ‘A’ game. I’m going to have to play well to win the match." Sock had possibly his biggest win the round before defeating top-seeded Donald Young in three tough sets. Kudla congratulated Sock on the match win, "I thought I played horrible at the start of the match. But after his injury (at 3-2 down in the second set) I just kept thinking I could be the luckiest man alive because I should have easily been losing the way I was playing. But he dealt with the adversity well on his service games and I just didn’t do enough. He dealt with the pain fine."
Should be a "Super Sunday" of tennis tomorrow in Atlanta. The women's final will be followed by the men's finals. A trip to the Australian Open is at stake to the winner, but so far the big winner is American tennis.