Sock/Fish team up in Texas golf event

Mardy Fish and Jack Sock

When Jack Sock made his maiden voyage into the world of celebrity golf, he knew that a familiar face would be waiting for him.  Seven weeks after the United States Davis Cup Team swept Columbia in early March in Reno, Nevada, Sock reunited with Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish at the inaugural ClubCorp Classic in Irving, Texas.

Who better to show Sock the ropes than Fish, one of America’s premier celebrity golfers, who wins regularly and plays in as many as he can against the likes of Tony Romo, John Smoltz, Mark Rypien and a host of Hall of Famers from sports and entertainment.

“Oh, Yeah, Reno was great.  Winning and me, as one of the veteran guys, getting to hold the American Flag and run around the arena, uphold that tradition.  That was a blast,” said Sock after wrapping up the first round of the ClubCorp Classic on Friday with playing partners Rod Pampling and Tom Lehman, familiar pro golfers now competing on the PGA TOUR Champions in the ClubCorp Classic.

“This is my first event in celebrity golf, so Marty and I played a practice round earlier in the week,” continued Sock, who contributed to the rout of Columbia by teaming with Rajeev Ram to defeat Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Nicolas Barrientos in the match that clinched the win for the U.S.  Asked if he had heard the stores about Fish taking money from that earlier generation of tennis pros when they would venture out to the golf course on days off, Sock offered.  “Oh, I’m sure that happened.  I would never play Mardy for money,” he concluded with a shake of the head.

Fish has won the American Century Championship, the premier event in celebrity golf, and has two victories in the Orlando tournament, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, which is a prominent LPGA event in January each year.

“Great to be with Jack this week after the role he played in Reno,” stated Fish, who trailed Tony Romo by three Stableford (golf scoring mechanism) point after Friday’s round.  “He is the pillar of our team and the guy I like to  bounce ideas off.  I look to him as a playing Assistant Captain.  And he is perhaps the best individual doubles player I have ever seen.”

As for the golf tournament, Sock stands in a tied for 25th place with the likes of Ray Allen, Joe Carter and Kyle Fuller, ahead of Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Brian Urlacher and Emmitt Smith plus Larry The Cable Guy and Anthony Anderson.

Fish is also bullish on Sock’s golf potential: “He’s already a strong player. Jack is a unique athlete. Great power and raw ability. I know golf coaches who love his foundation.”

Pasted the reno gazette journal story for your reference.  Use this copy as you see fit.  Only attribution needed is photo credit: ClubCorp Classic.

Considering how things played out this weekend in downtown Reno, the United States Tennis Association might want to consider bringing the Davis Cup to the Biggest Little City more often.

Jack Sock and Rajeev Ram of the U.S. defeated the Colombian duo of Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Nicolas Barrientos in straight sets Saturday afternoon, 6-3, 6-4, to win the countries’ Davis Cup qualifying match in front of an enthusiastic and at-times raucous crowed at the Reno Events Center.

Saturday’s doubles victory followed singles wins Friday night from Sebastian Korda over Nicolas Mejia and Taylor Fritz over Alejandro Gonzalez, giving the U.S. a 3-0 lead and clinching victory in the best-of-five series.

Look for Isner to take Atlanta again

Here are our predictions for the BB&T Atlanta final.

It’s déjà all over again as John Isner faces Ryan Harrison in the Atlanta final, just like they did 52 weeks ago.

Isner won 7-6(6), 7-6(7) but the score doesn’t reflect the story; the tall American had a stunning 23/1 aces to double faults, while Harrison was only 10/4. Isner also won eight more points, not a huge number but significant in a match with two very close tiebreaks.

Both players needed three sets to take their semis. today While a bit hot, conditions here were quite pleasant compared to some of the scorchers that have plagued players before. That might have contributed to Isner’s occasional discomfort, as he banged a racquet when he dropped the second set to Matthew Ebden, one of a couple of rare outbursts. Harrison floundered in the first set, dropping it 6-2, but then made the most of numerous ill-timed double faults by Cameron Norrie to win in three sets.

While Isner has a better head-to-head record of 7-3, Harrison holds a notable edge on outdoor hard courts, winning three of their four matches. The last hard-court meeting was in Acapulco this year with a straight-set win for Harrison.

What does that mean for tomorrow’s Atlanta final? Not much. Why … because Isner is on a roll. He’s coming off his magnificent achievement of reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon. He won Miami on hard courts. But, most importantly, this is Atlanta. Isner is not unbeatable here but he’s reached eight of the nine finals in the Georgia capital. He’s got four titles and his focusing on his fifth. We like Isner in two tight sets … just like a year ago. 

Isner, Harrison aiming for Atlanta repeat


Here are our predictions for the BB&T Atlanta Open semifinals:

John Isner vs. Matthew Ebden

It’s nearly impossible to go against Isner in Atlanta. The former Univ. of Georgia Bulldog has waltzed his way to the semis in each of his nine trips to Atlanta and took home four oblong bronze trophies in 2013-2015 and 2017. He’s 3-1 over Australian Ebden, with the only loss coming in this year’s Australian Open first round. So, the Wimbledon semifinalist has something to prove today.

The 30-year-old Ebden has seen his ranking peak earlier this month at No. 43. Besides Isner, he’s taken down Sam Querrey, Gilles Simon and Frances Tiafoe on hard courts this year. He has had a decent record in the Georgia capital.

But, that won’t help him much against the big Isner serve and what amounts to a home crowd. Isner in straight sets.

Ryan Harrison vs. Cameron Norrie

The ever-perplexing Harrison comes into the tournament ranked No. 53, having hit his best ever a year ago at No. 40. Over the past 18 months he has won one tournament – 2017 Memphis – and reached the final last year here in Atlanta and in ’18 Brisbane. Considering this run of success, the fact that he has only produced top results at 250 tournaments has slowed his progress. He has won only three Grand Slam matches this year and went without a victory in Indian Wells and Miami. He’s only 26 but the question remains: Will he ever break into the Top 20?

Norrie may not have Harrison’s pedigree but he is on the way up. A year ago he was No. 275; now he’s at a career high of No. 73. The Brit (but with long-time New Zealand roots) has 2018 wins over Isner and Robin Haase … along with Harrison’s younger brother, Christian. His left-handed game can give Ryan some issues but Harrison has experience here.

Harrison had to dig deep to overcome Hyeon Chung in the quarters. Figure Harrison will have to fight again and we see him winning in three sets.

US glides into Davis Cup second round

No, thanks, Mike & Bob. We’re good.

US Davis Cup captain Jim Courier must have been pretty confident to send out Olympic bronze medalists Jack Sock https://www.viagrasansordonnancefr.com/ou-acheter-du-viagra/ and Steve Johnson to earn the third and deciding point as Team USA faced off against Switzerland. The Americans had to snake their way through a determined Swiss duo of  Adrien Bossel/Henri Laaksonen 7-6(3) 6-3 7-6(5).

The doubles rubber victory sealed the first-round for the US. They will travel to Australian for a second-round matchup.

Playing in  the shadow of Bob and Mike Bryan didn’t seem to affect the American team and a packed, partisan crowd in Birmingham, Ala. Earlier this year the twins, who own just about every men’s doubles record any team could ever want, announced their retirement from Davis Cup competition. The Bryans won and played in more US Davis Cup matches than any other team. Since 2003, the brothers have been such a mainstay that the team U.S. had only sent out four different combinations for the doubles rubber in 34 ties. Compare that to most countries who often send out a hodgepodge of non-stars to represent them.

Like the Swiss, who are here without two of the world’s best: Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.

Courier choose to go with the Sock/Johnson combo instead of playing Sam Querrey, who was relegated to the fourth spot on the team as Sock and John Isner where picked as singles players. It’s fair to predict that Querrey will be pegged to play one of the two dead rubbers on Sunday. These matches will be the best of three sets.

In doubles, the Americans pulled out the first set by overcoming a mini-break early in the tiebreak. Throughout that set the Swiss couldn’t smack a backhand winner while Sock/Johnson totaled eight.

The second set was another story as the Americans took a strong lead, winning 13 of 14 points in the early games. The Swiss rebounded with one break but still couldn’t counter the Americans, who converted two of five break points.

The third set provided some real drama, igniting a crowd who inserted chants and songs into pauses in the action. Both teams capitalized on a break each to set up a tiebreak.

Sock and Johnson hits a number of stunning points, with low-angled volleys and crushing overheads. The Swiss had a chance to blast away an overhead late in the tiebreak. But the overhead didn’t have much pace and Americans were able to track it down and smash a down-the-middle groundstroke winner. The point of the match.

Other ties

Australia, led by legend and captain Lleyton Hewitt, surprising took down the Czech Republic in straight matches. The Czechs played without top player Tomas Berdych.

While playing on the road in Tokyo, France took all three matches to advance. Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon made the trip while Kei Nishikori did not play.

Led by Novak Djokovic, Serbia dispatched Russia in three. Italy, Croatia and Belgium stand 2-1 after two days.

Isner overcomes slow start to nail 2-0 lead

 

BIRMINGHAM, AL – Maybe what John Inser needed was a match within native South to find his big serve and groundstrokes.

Isner overcame a first-set loss and months of underachieving to defeat Henri Laaksonen in the second rubber of the US vs. Switzerland tie.

Isner returned is personal nirvana – the tiebreak – to dispatch Laaksonen in the fourth set. Isner found his stride with a 46 62 62 76 (1) victory.

The 6’10” American backed up an earlier victory by Jack Sook to give the US and expected early lead in the first-round World Group Davis Cup tie.

Even though he had no aces in the tiebreak, Isner cracked two service winners and watched as Laaksonen double faulted match point.

As usual, Isner’s biggest weapon is his serve and he put away 28 access, surpassing 500 in his Davis Cup career. As he turned around the match after a mediocre first set, the American had four aces in the last game of the second set.

As the first set fell away, the possibility of Isner less than stellar recent play must have crossed his and coach Jim Courier’s mind. Isner has only won two matches this year, exiting from the Australian Open in the second round. Except for an appearance in the Paris final in the fall, Isner has had less than spectacular results in the last half of 2016. During that time, he lost his standing as America’s top male player, which he had held for numerous years.

“I felt energized by this crowd,” he said during a post-match interview, citing the pro-American spectators who used a large drum and chanting to back their team.


Sock downs Ciudinelli in first rubber

The most trouble Jack Sock had in taking down Marco Chiudinelli in the first rubber of the US vs. Switzerland Davis Cup tie was grabbing a first-set break. It took the American six tries to seal the set.

The rest was smooth sailing.

Sock cruised with a 6-4 6-3 6-1 victory in the World Group first round. Dominating with his usual brand of punishing forehands and big serves, Sock battered the Swiss in the last two sets, repeating the pattern he has used to move into the Top 20.

In a turn of events, Sock has moved past long-time top-dog American John Isner. Now Sock played the No. 1 position in this tie, as his last six months has shown improvement while Isner seems to be slowly losing the edge in his vaunted power-serving game.

Of course, Chiudinelli’s place in the world of Swiss tennis has long been No. 3, slipping now down to No. 146. That makes  Henri Laaksonen, at No. 127, the top Swiss player here. But, hey, this is the Swiss B team with the last two men’s Grand Slam winners – countrymen Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka – being no-shows.

Sock clamped down on Chiudinelli beginning in the last game of the first set. At 0-30 Chiudinelli’s second serve bounced off the tape and barely missed the line, giving Sock three set points. Then the Swiss rattled off three straight service winners. Chiudinelli throws in another double but he bangs a punishing overhead to get back to deuce. It wasn’t until Sock placed a dying drop shot on the sixth break point that he grabbed the first set.

The American was off and flying, taking the first three games of the second set, breaking on his only break chance of the set. In the second game, Chiudinelli had to face a Sock service winner. He followed it up with a sloppy ground stroke. Sock easily took control of the game. Bolstered by the early break, Sock started feeling his game.

“I think I was a little hesitant at the beginning; maybe too conservative playing when obviously my game is to kind of play big and hit big forehands and be aggressive. … Then, when I was able to get the break it kind of made me able to play my game.,” Sock said. He agreed that he built some real momentum in the second set.

Asked about his success with drop shots, he added, “I think I hit them at the right time except for the 3-all game. I tried to hit it at deuce, which was idiotic.”

The Swiss complimented Sock, saying, “(I) struggle a bit with his heavy serve. Yeah, he had good serves at a lot of those moments. When I managed to get the ball back, he followed up with some good second shots.”

Sock sets the stage for what is predicted to be relatively easy first round. If the US wins here, it would face the winner of the Czech Republic/Australia tie. The Aussies took a 2-0 lead today as Jordan Thompson shocked Jiri Vesely and Nick Kyrgios was also a straight-set winner over Jari Satral.

Williams, Keys Earn Shot At Aussie Open

Showing power and maturity, Rhyne Williams powered his way through Tim Smyczek to win a main draw wild card into the Australian Open.

Madison Keys repeated her 2011 victory, also earning a wild card at the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs in Norcross, Ga.

Williams, a former University of Tennessee standout, continued his march though the lineup of up-and-coming American men with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory.

With a stinging forehand and effective serve, the 21-year-old Williams came out with guns blazing in the first set. Williams’ power was negated as Milwaukee’s Smyczek counter-punched through a second set. No matter how much ground Smyczek covered, he couldn’t deal with the numerous winners Williams delivered.

Williams proved he is gaining a edge in maturity as he tempered his game and relied on patience and shot selection to dominate the second two sets.

Ginepri Cracks Williams, Keys To Face Brodsky

Like days of old, Robby Ginepri is regaining his spot as Atlanta's top player

Up 5-4, the 29-year-old might remember the two easy volleys he failed to convert against former University of Tennessee Volunteer Rhyne Williams. But, he will not forget the overhead he hit pararral to the court over the first backdrop and then over the second tarp at the Racquet Club of the South.

Still, he found his composure

Riske, Ginepri Star in Wild Card Playoffs

Ginepri is on the comeback trail.

NORCROSS, GA

Isner Can

Mardy Fish is the Olympus US Open Series leader. Photo: Mark Lyons

Mardy Repeats In Atlanta, First Title Defense

NORCROSS, GA

Isner Looks For Back-to-back Titles

John Isner goes for two trophies in a row. Brandon Feusner/ATC

Former Georgia Bulldog: