French Open men’s wrap: Jack Sock’s disgusting ref rant, Rafa on track for 11th title
PUT a Sock in it, Jack! Brash American and Nick Kyrgios’s good mate, Jack Sock, has unloaded on a French Open chair umpire during his first-round Roland Garros exit.
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JACK Sock, the No. 14 seed, ranted and railed as he lost in the French Open first round for a second consecutive year.
His first-round tormentor was 136th-ranked Jurgen Zopp of Estonia, who won 6-7(4), 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Sock blamed the Brazilian umpire, disputing her calls and questioning her competence.
“This is your job, right?” he said after serving a double fault to go 5-2 down in the second set. “Hard to believe.”
Jack Sock is not doing well with his chair umpire, at one point calls her "atrocious" pic.twitter.com/jNCqVTsR5C
— Born Salty (@cjzero) May 29, 2018
On his way to losing the fourth set, he said to the umpire during a changeover: “You’re atrocious. If we could request a new one, I would. This is shocking stuff. Can I request a new ref?” Sock’s best showing at Roland Garros was in 2015, when he reached the fourth round.
RAFA ON TRACK FOR 11TH TITLE
Rafael Nadal admits he may have taken it a little too easy as he began his bid for an 11th French Open title.
Nadal’s latest Roland Garros campaign is up and running after a straight-sets - but far from straightforward - win over Simone Bolelli.
The Spaniard - top seed, world No.1, reigning champion and red-hot favourite for another Paris crown - had to return on Tuesday morning to finish his first-round clash against the lucky loser from Italy.
Nadal had taken the first two sets in typically ominous style but then trailed 3-0 in the third when the rain came.
Nadal broke straight back on the resumption but Bolelli did not let him have things his own way, threatening another break at 4-3.
Bolelli then forced four set points in a marathon tiebreak but the 16-time grand slam winner got over the line 6-4 6-3 7-6 (11-9).
“It was a good match. It was a difficult match, because he played so aggressive and very well,” said Nadal.
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“I resisted. It’s always difficult to play against players that want to hit every ball so hard, and even more if it’s the first round.
“He played well, so well, playing with lots of risk but having success with all of the risk that he took.
“Yeah, I played a match that I have to play more aggressively, but it was difficult to play so aggressive being in the first round and against a player who really came on court and decided to play that strong.”
DEL POTRO DOWNS HOMETOWN HERO
Juan Martin del Potro recovered from a poor first set to beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the French Open first round on Tuesday.
The former US Open champion, who retired injured at the Italian Open earlier this month, had said he would make a last-minute decision on his fitness at Roland Garros.
But the Argentinian fifth seed, a semi-finalist in 2009, came through his match against Mahut with relative comfort after his difficult start and broke wildcard Mahut’s serve five times.
Del Potro will take on either his compatriot Leonardo Mayer or French veteran Julien Benneteau in round two.
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Originally published as French Open men’s wrap: Jack Sock’s disgusting ref rant, Rafa on track for 11th title