Jack Sock leads early, falters late to bow out of singles at U.S. Open tennis tourney

Jack Sock’s hopes for a deep run in men’s singles at the U.S. Open tennis tournament are over, done in by a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 6-2 loss to Adrian Mannarino of France in the second round Wednesday in New York.

It’s been a memorable few months for Sock, a graduate of Blue Valley North High School who became engaged to his girlfriend Laura Little in December and then moved from the Kansas City area to Charlotte.

Sock has battled injuries recently and saw his world ranking in men’s singles, which once was as high as No. 8, drop to No. 389 entering the U.S. Open. He took advantage of a wild-card entry into the men’s singles field and beat Pablo Cuevas of Argentina 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) in a first-round battle of unseeded players.

Sock played well early in Wednesday’s match and had a 4-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker. But when he let that slip away, Mannarino was on his way to victory.

Sock made eight aces and 42 winners but was hurt by 34 unforced errors and the fact that he converted just three of nine break points. Mannarino hit 13 aces and 37 winners while making just 12 unforced errors and converting five of 10 break points.

Sock is still scheduled to play men’s doubles with Jackson Withrow. They upset brothers Mike and Bob Bryan, who have since retired, during the third round last year before falling in the quarterfinals.