Third seed Jack Sock continued his dominance over Donald Young on Saturday at the Delray Beach Open, advancing to his second ATP World Tour final of the season with a 6-4, 7-6(2) win.
Sock improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Young to 3-0. The Nebraska native is now 10-1 this season, having lifted the trophy last month at the ASB Tennis Classic (d. Sousa) and recorded a third-round finish at the Australian Open.
“No one’s going away in the semi-finals of a tournament. It definitely could have gone either way in the first set,” said Sock. “He’s a tricky player in that he makes you play a lot of balls and can wear you down, but also has great hands at the net when he comes forward. You never totally know what you’re going to get, so I was just fortunate to come through in two sets.”
He awaits the winner between top seed Milos Raonic and seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro. Raonic leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head record with Sock 8-2, but the American prevailed in their most recent match last October at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Del Potro and Sock are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head at 1-1, with Sock emerging victorious last May at the Mutua Madrid Open and the Argentine getting revenge five months later in the If Stockholm Open final.
“I’m definitely playing with a lot of confidence this year. I started out the season with a title, which is the most ideal situation and gives you confidence for the rest of the tournaments,” said Sock. “I feel strong mentally and physically, and like I have a clear game plan for what I’m doing out there.”
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Sock and Young dropped their opening service games, but Sock quickly regained his footing. The third seed broke Young once more at 3-3 and remained dominant on serve, dropping two points in four service games to grab the early lead.
There were no breaks in the second set, but Young was made to work hard in most of his service games while Sock held comfortably. It appeared the match might head to a decider after Young laced a forehand winner to take a 2/0 lead in the tie-break, but the momentum was short-lived. Sock used his trademark serve and forehand to go on a seven-point run and advance in one hour and 32 minutes.
DOUBLES
Second seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram moved into the final after defeating Jonathan Erlich and Scott Lipsky, 6-3, 3-6, 10-1. They’ll play the winner between third seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, and Yen-Hsun Lu and Leander Paes.
