Thursday, February 21, 2013
Jack socks it to Raonic at Memphis International
(Reuters) - Young American Jack Sock stunned in-form world number 14 Milos Raonic with a 6-3 5-7 7-5 victory to provide the first major upset of the Memphis International tournament on Wednesday.
Big-serving second seed Raonic was coming off his third straight San Jose Open title but was unable to recapture that form in his first round match against his 20-year-old opponent.
Jack Sock of the U.S. hits a return to Flavio Cipolla of Italy during their men's singles match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York August 30, 2012. REUTERS/Ray StubblebineWildcard Sock, ranked 168th in the world, was able to match Raonic's serve and finished with 11 aces to the Canadian's 12 in a match that featured just three service breaks.
The final set was tied at 5-5 but Sock grabbed a late break before finishing off the duel in two hours and 10 minutes.
In other action, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt showed his grit by fending off a pair of match points in the second set before overcoming Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun 2-6 7-6 6-4.
After dropping the opening set, Hewitt went up 4-1 in the second before momentum completely swung against him.
The Australian has never been one to shirk a challenge, however, and showed he still has mettle to spare, even if he was aided by seven Lu double-faults.
Germany's Tommy Haas, who lost to Raonic in the San Jose final last week, was also a winner, 7-6 6-4 over Russia's Evgeny Donskoy.
Women's second seed Sofia Arvidsson also crashed out, losing 6-1 3-6 6-3 to New Zealand's Marina Erakovic, while top seed Kirsten Flipkens outlasted Lesia Tsurenko 7-5 3-6 6-3 in her second round tie.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles, editing by Nick Mulvenney)
- Mixed reaction to Chong Wei’s remarks on Lin Dan’s wild card
- Formula One: Increased venom as F1 tyre war erupts again
- Badminton: Coaches voice out frustration over new lighting system at Putra Stadium at Bukit Jalil
- Cai Lin breaks 200m freestyle record
- Djokovic crashes in Rome, ailing Sharapova pulls out, Federer wins
- China play it cool; Past records mean nothing, says chief coach Yongbo
- Learn Spanish Hafizh as part of plan to conquer MotoGP
- Table tennis: Leading Chinese quartet power into last 16 of world meet
- Shankar hopes Sri Lanka will shine at Sudirman Cup
- KLHC don’t want final to go into extra-time or shootout
- O'Gara retires to take up coaching role
- Shields up to push claim for higher honours
- Dane Hoyer Larsen elected BWF president
- Crusaders slap down upstart Blues in soggy Christchurch
- Cycling: Leader Van Garderen wins California time trial
- Golf: Keegan Bradley maintains Byron Nelson lead
- Golf: Korda seizes lead at Mobile Bay LPGA
- Bradley stays in charge, Guan exits
- Hall of Famer Venturi dies aged 82
- Formula One: Increased venom as F1 tyre war erupts again
RSS
