Back from Rio, Jack Sock is ready for the U.S. Open tennis tournament starting Monday

Jack Sock has kept busy since returning from the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but now it’s time to get back to tennis.

Sock, who played in high school at Blue Valley North, is seeded 26th in singles at the U.S. Open, which begins Monday in New York.

Sock said his experience in Rio was memorable. In addition to winning a gold medal in mixed doubles and bronze in men’s doubles, Sock said he enjoyed seeing some great events and hanging out in the village with other standout athletes.

“It was a crazy time,” Sock said. “It was just incredible. It was an honor to represent the U.S. I was fortunate to come home with a couple of medals.”

After returning to the Kansas City area, Sock threw out the first pitch at a Royals game and led the “I believe that we will win” chant in the Cauldron at a Sporting Kansas City game.

“I feel good,” Sock said. “I got home and got in some good workouts. I am ready to go.”

Sock has had most of his success in Grand Slam events in doubles — he was on the winning mixed doubles team at the U.S. Open in 2011 and men’s doubles at Wimbledon in 2014 — but is only playing singles this time.

“I just wanted to conserve energy,” Sock said. “It is warm in New York, and playing three out of five sets every other day can wear you down.”

Sock is seeded No. 26 in men’s singles and will open against Taylor Fritz, last year’s U.S. Open junior champion.

Fritz has struggled recently, losing in the first round in five of his last seven tournaments.

“I have high expectations for myself and I want to do better than I’m doing,” Fritz told The Washington Post. “I’m sure people have started to figure out things about me.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Back from Rio, Jack Sock is ready for the U.S. Open tennis tournament starting Monday."