2017 in the tennis season concluded with many heart-warming stories. Lucas Pouille came through in the clutch to beat Steve Darcis in the decisive fifth rubber at Davis Cup. David Goffin finally seemed to turn a corner in his career, beating Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the ATP Finals, and then beating Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in Davis Cup. Grigor Dimitrov played, arguably, the best week of tennis in his career when he took the ATP Finals crown, going undefeated in the process.
But, for me, the biggest story at the end of season was Jack Sock's emergence as a threat to anyone he plays and his incredible successes to close out what was, beforehand, a forgettable season. Before playing in the Masters 1000 event in Bercy, Sock hadn't played great tennis. He hadn't made the Semifinals of a tournament since Washington before the hard court, summer Masters 1000 tournaments, a tournament in which he managed to embarrass himself by questioning the surface on which the tournament was played. It seemed as if Sock would meekly finish out 2017 before looking to turn things around in the new year.
But, Jack was not going to accept that script. His game started to come together in his first match in Paris. Played off the main court, Jack took on Kyle Edmund in a rematch from an earlier meeting in Atlanta where Kyle easily took care of Sock 6-4, 6-1. And it looked as if Sock's season would be ending soon when Edmund took a 5-1 lead in the third set.
But, Jack did not quit. I've questioned Jack's work ethic in the past, but I must give him credit, in this match he did not give up. Watching the tiebreak, which ended 7-5 in Sock's favor, I couldn't get over the attacking, physical style of tennis he played. He wouldn't let Edmund really get into the tiebreak, despite the deceivingly-close score. Once Jack got the mini-break to lead 4-2 in the tiebreak, one could sense the match was over.
From there, Jack beat Lucas Pouille in straight sets before taking on Verdasco. Fernando won the first set in a tiebreak and, again, it would have been easy for Jack to mail it in and call it a season. But, again, Jack refused to go down. Sock dominated the last two sets for a three-set victory. Then Sock took down hometown favotite Julien Benneteau in straight sets before playing Filip Krajinovic in the Final.
It was surely tough on Jack to have to take on Krajinovic. Sock was seen as the heavy favorite in this match, and given that a trip to the ATP Finals, was on the line, this was surely mentally tough on him. But after losing a tight first set, Sock played the best tennis I've ever seen him play and easily won the final two sets. Sock had now won three matches in the tournament having lost the first set.
And, instead of resting on his laurels after such an impressive tournament, Sock kept up his high level of play in the ATP Finals. He played Roger Federer tough in his first match and then, with elimination lurking, he came back from a break down in the third set to beat Marin Cilic in a third set tiebreak.
Sock would then take on Alexander Zverev, a top three player in the world, with the winner advancing on to the Semifinals. Sock won the first set before playing a terrible second set and getting down a break in the third. In addition, Sock got a point penalty early in the third set. Everything was seemingly go against Jack and, once again, Jack could have just played out the cards and go into the offseason feeling good about himself.
But, Jack wouldn't give up. Jack came back and won the match 6-4, breaking for the in at 5-4 up, to go on to the Semifinals against Grigor Dimitrov. And while he lost the match, he still took the first set over Grigor and proved, once again, that he could compete against the best in the world. Jack Sock had proven to the world that he could be a force in the coming years.
But, will Jack Sock sustain his success? This is then natural question after such great success which, at least from an outside perspective, seems to have come out of nowhere. For Jack, I think the key to success is making sure that his fitness is high. That has been a question mark in the past, and it will be interesting to see if Jack continues to show a high level of fitness when not in the climate controlled conditions that indoor tennis produces.
Another interesting question is how Jack Sock handles the pressure of being the top American male tennis player. For a very long time, John Isner has been the top male American tennis player, and now Jack will be tasked with leading what was once the top country in male tennis. Jack seems like an easy-going guy, so the pressure that produces shouldn't be a problem for him, but it is a question that needs to be asked.
Something else to look for is whether or not Jack can consistently compete at the level he competed with at the end of the season. It's one thing to win a Masters 1000 event and then do well in the next tournament, but it's a whole different ball game to keep those successes coming. Earlier in the season, when Jack had some successes in Indian Wells and Miami, he followed that up with a disappointing loss to Jordan Thompson in Davis Cup.
And while he did make the Semifinals of Houston in the following tournament, he then didn't Semifinals of a tournament (nor win more than two matches in a tournament) until Washington, which was then followed by some more poor results. So, it will be interesting to see if Jack can get some sustained success to start 2018. If Jack starts off strong through the Australian Open, then thoughts of the next American grand slam champion will come into view.
He needs to have the right attitude, though. That outburst that I mentioned earlier is not the type of behavior typically seen in champions. Sock's game is not on the level of a guy like John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors, he can't be losing his focus on issues such as the condition of the court. But, I think that, given what we have seen at the end of the season, winning a slam is certainly a possibility.
With a continuation of good fitness and with a good attitude, I believe that Jack Sock can win at least one slam and sustain his success.
