Blue Valley North grad Jack Sock set for U.S. Open

At some point, Jack Sock will get to enjoy the doubles championship he and partner Vasek Pospisil won last month at Wimbledon.

Sock, a 21-year-old who played in high school at Blue Valley North, has been busy playing in a lot of tournaments since he and Pospisil beat top-seeded brothers Bob and Mike Bryan in the final at Wimbledon.

“I don’t know if it has sunk in yet, honestly,” Sock said. “I went straight from the Champions’ ball on Sunday night to Newport (R.I.), played the next day, and was back training when I got home after that. I think when I finally have a couple of days off to not pick up a racket and have a rest, it will really sink in.”

Sock has played well in singles this summer and has risen to No. 55 in the world rankings, though he is unseeded at the U.S. Open, which begins Monday in New York. He will play unseeded Pablo Andujar of Spain in his first-round singles match, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

In his first three tournaments of the hardcourt season in the United States, Sock lost to the eventual champion. He fell in semifinal matches to Lleyton Hewitt in Newport and John Isner in Atlanta and to Milos Raonic in the second round in Washington.

Sock credits his recent good play in singles to the confidence he gained from his victory with Pospisil at Wimbledon.

“Anytime you can go through a tournament, especially a Grand Slam, playing through the second weekend and be one of the last guys in the locker room can only boost your confidence,” Sock said. “It wasn’t singles, which is our ultimate goal, but we went through a draw and played four top-10 teams. To be able to win against the best team of all time on Center Court in the final has helped us both out.”

Sock said one of his goals is to play well enough to earn a spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team. The Americans have a World Group playoff with Slovakia next month.

“Results put you on the team,” he said, “so my goal for the summer is to keep playing well and hopefully make the team real soon.”

Sock and Pospisil are the No. 8 seed in doubles at the U.S. Open, and they will open against unseeded Henri Kontinen and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

After their title as an unseeded team at Wimbledon, Sock and Pospisil won the Atlanta Open and made the final of the Western & Southern Open in Ohio. That’s where their 14-match winning streak — a record for players teaming together for the first time — ended with a loss to the Bryans, who are seeded No. 1 in the Open and are trying for their 16th career Grand Slam doubles crown.

Pospisil said the Wimbledon triumph has led to a close friendship with Sock.

“We’re best buds,” Pospisil said. “We’re pretty much inseparable right now. We go to dinner together almost every night, we hang out in each other’s rooms. A great friendship was born from that experience. I think we’re pretty much bonded for life now.”

While he has enjoyed success in doubles, Sock said playing singles remains his main priority.

“It will be for my career,” Sock said.

This story was originally published August 24, 2014 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Blue Valley North grad Jack Sock set for U.S. Open."