The future of American men’s tennis will be on display on Tuesday as No. 25 seed Jack Sock takes on the highly-talented Taylor Fritz in the first round of the Australian Open. It’s bound to be one entertaining contest with both Americans playing some fantastic tennis to start the year.
Read on below for a complete preview of this all-American affair. While you’re at it, you can check out our first-round previews of Hewitt vs. Duckworth and Murray vs. Zverev.
Jack Sock’s preparations for the Australian Open were thrown into disarray last Saturday when illness forced him to retire in the final of the ASB Classic tennis tournament against Roberto Bautista Agut. It was a disappointing result for the 23-year-old American who was playing some beautiful tennis prior to his withdrawal in the championship match. Sock had won his quarter-final and semi-final matches – against fourth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson and four-time champion and top seed David Ferrer – over the previous two days despite battling a virus.
[sc:AUS15-250 ]It won’t get any easier for Sock as he was handed a tough matchup in the opening round of this year’s Australian Open. He will face the highly-rated Taylor Fritz in the round of 128. Last year, Fritz joined an illustrious group of eight players who won multiple Challengers before turning 18, among them Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych.
For Sock to deny Fritz’s upset bid, he will need to dominate with his service game. Sock was 33rd in the ATP Tour in aces last season, serving a total of 299 in 51 matches. That enabled Sock to win 75 percent of his first serve points last year.
Sock is 7-3 in his last 10 matches.
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Betting on Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz booked a place in the 2016 Australian Open main draw with a thrilling 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 victory over Mischa Zverev on the final day of qualifying. The 18-year-old American fought back from a 0-4 third-set deficit, reeling off six straight games to stun the German. Fritz has been in fine form ever since he turned professional back in September, winning 25 of his 29 matches.
He already has three ATP Challenger Tour titles under his belt. Just last week, he reigned supreme in the City of Onkaparinga ATP Challenger tournament in Happy Valley, Australia. He defeated highly-rated Israeli Dudi Sela in the final, 7-6, 6-2, to grab 90 event points and the $10,800 top prize. He will fancy his chances of extending that excellent form against Sock as he is still unbeaten in eight matches this year. Fritz has dropped just three sets this year.
Fritz is 9-1 in his last 10 matches.
Writer’s Prediction
Sock (-250) edges past Fritz in four tough sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
