Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Wellington: Rising American talent Jack Sock and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut will face off in the Auckland Classic final after stunning top seeds David Ferrer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals on Friday.
Sock upset four-times champion and world number eight Ferrer 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 before Bautista Agut also came from a set down to shock second seed Tsonga 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 in last four action at the Australian Open warm-up.
American Sock's impressive run in New Zealand had looked like coming to an end when, suffering from what he later described as flu-like symptoms, he lost the first set to the 33-year-old Ferrer.
The 23-year-old, however, shrugged off his aches and pains to charge to a 5-0 lead in the second and evened up the contest with a sizzling ace after top seed Ferrer had managed to hold serve for the first time in the set.
Sock kept up his energy levels in the decider and summoned up another ace, his 13th of the contest but this time off his second serve, to seal his first victory over a top 10 player in his last 10 attempts.
World number 10 Tsonga was looking for the confidence boost of a 13th title as he prepared for a meeting with fellow former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in the first round at Melbourne Park.
The 30-year-old Frenchman raced through the first set in little more than half an hour but hit a road bump in the second, despite taking the Spaniard's first service game.
The world number 25 broke back immediately and took the second set on a tiebreak, only needing a single break in the decider to reach his fifth career ATP final.
