Sock's Best Of 2015: Kansas City Highs
Sock's Best Of 2015: Kansas City Highs
From his first title to his brother’s recovery and the Royals’ World Series triumph, Jack Sock describes the best moments of 2015
American Jack Sock had quite the year to remember in 2015, both on and off the court. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the highlights:
- Buying and remodeling a house in Kansas City
- Being by his brother’s side as he survived a near-death battle with Lemierre’s Syndrome
- Winning the BNP Paribas Open doubles title with Vasek Pospisil in his first tournament of 2015
- Claiming his first ATP World Tour title in Houston
- Watching the Kansas City Royals win the World Series
- Reaching the Stockholm singles (l. to Berdych) and doubles finals (won with Nicholas Monroe)
- Coming within one match win of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with Pospisil (“PopSock”, as they call themselves, will return in 2016)
- Reaching a career-high No. 25 Emirates ATP Ranking in November
- Earning a nomination as Comeback Player of the Year
- Adopting a puppy, a little Pomeranian boy, named Dash.
ATPWorldTour.com asked the 23 year old to take a look back.
Best Moment On Court
“I would say probably Houston. Houston’s gotta be up there. One of my goals this year was to try and win my first singles title, and I love that tournament in Houston. They do an unbelievable job there. It’s very cozy, they do a great job with the hospitality, so it’s a relaxing tournament. My brother (Eric) was with me, after his illness, so it was special to also have him there”
Best Moment Off Court
“Probably my brother getting out of the hospital. He was finally able to go home after being there for a few weeks – the ventilator, the surgery and everything. We got a big cake for him. It was pretty special for my family.”
Best Locker Room Prank
“John Isner and I were getting each other in Beijing. He had left for the day and I put some old food in his locker, so he came back the next day and it smelled horrible when he opened his locker. I also put a bunch of trash in there so when he opened it, it all fell out. And I, for some reason, thought he wasn’t going to do anything back, but I was wrong. The following day I came in and opened my locker and there was a four-day old salmon in there and some yogurt and some dirty socks. That was pretty rotten. Good prank on his part!”
Best Sports Moment
“Royals winning the World Series, by far. I was not in Kansas City or even in the States, but when I got home after Paris, you could still feel it, the electricity in the air. The city was still buzzing, so that was awesome.”
Better than your Houston win?
“Uh… [long pause] that’s close. It’s different. One’s personal and one’s the home city winning. I’d say it’s pretty close.”
Best Ping-Pong Match Played
“Against (Nick) Kyrgios in Rome, we played probably 400 games in a few days there. We played all day, every day, we were both left in doubles. We’d practice, then we’d go play. I also played (Gael) Monfils this summer in Canada and he’s really good. Those two are probably my toughest opponents so far.”
On-Court Resolution For 2016
“On court, continue doing what I’m doing. I finished the year strong, got a lot of wins, got the confidence up a lot. That will help going into next year for sure. And just building off that, I think with more time on tour, more experience and more matches under my belt, I think only good things can happen.”
Off-Court Resolution For 2016
“I was able to spend a lot more time with my family this year, which was nice, being back in Kansas City. But after that, maybe if I have some time, trying to get my handicap better in golf. We’ll see.”
