Jack Sock’s confidence is understandably riding high coming off his biggest career title in Paris to qualify for his Nitto ATP Finals debut. But staring down a 0-3 deficit in his FedExATP Head2Head series with Roger Federer coming into their opening round-robin clash on Sunday, it stands to reason he would have a few shock tactics up his sleeve to try throwing off the No. 2 seed.
With Federer comfortably edging his way towards the opening set with a break in hand, Sock looked to have blown a game point for 3-4 when his attempted half volley propped up for a routine Federer putaway. Stranded at net and feeling the point was all but lost, the American turned his back and pointed his rear end in Federer’s direction.
It was enough to throw off the usually unflappable Swiss as his forehand caught the net, drawing a grin of astonishment from Sock and a cheeky question as to whether his butt was the culprit. Asked just how big a distraction it was, Federer didn’t skirt the issue.
“It was a big distraction, I'll tell you that, because it was very big,” Federer said to laughter. “That's what I should have aimed for. That target was bigger than the down-the-line court that I had. It's happened sometimes in the past, but not on a big stage like this.”
For his part, Sock said the butt distraction was not a typical surprise tactic he deployed throughout the year. “I mean, I did it more for fun,” Sock said. “I probably do it three times a year. No, it's not a normal tactic.”
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Federer ensured his 25-year-old opponent would not get away with a second surprise tactic late in the second set, when he out-showboated Sock on a somewhat lucky passing shot. Serving for a 5-4 lead, the American made a forehand tweener volley only for the Swiss to flick a backhand passing shot on the run into the corner.
“Well, I mean, he hit a good shot, credit to him. But it was a minor shank,” Sock said. “When he hit it, it wasn't very clean, I figured it was going to go out. It landed just inside both lines. But, I don't know. It's Roger, I guess. He can do no wrong. Everything goes in (smiling).”
Having chosen to skip the Rolex Paris Masters, Federer relinquished any chance of finishing ahead of Rafael Nadal for the coveted year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking. It was a decision the Swiss did not regret, even when seeing his Spanish rival handed the year-end No. 1 trophy on Sunday.
“He was better throughout the year,” Federer said. “He played more tournaments. He was incredibly successful throughout. So, no, I don't have any regrets because I feel like in my stage of competition, my age, either it comes to me or it doesn't.
“He had more gas left in the tank than I did. I couldn't play as much as I've wanted … Things evaporated very quickly after he won the US Open. That's when he made his final push, in Asia. That was it for me really.
“In some ways I'm happy he clinched it because he deserves it. And like this, I can focus on playing the tournament, and not having to talk about that at the same time. Sure, I would have loved to be (No. 1), but you can't be it with (so few) tournaments, so it's no problem for me.”