ASB Classic 2016: Friday Tennis Scores, Results and Updated Schedule
Jack Sock and Roberto Bautista Agut will contest the final of the ASB Classic 2016 after notching wins in their respective semi-final matches on Friday.
Sock’s match was a thrilling tussle against top seed David Ferrer, with the American rallying from a set down to book his place in the tournament showpiece with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Bautista Agut produced a similarly stirring performance in beating second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, saving a match point on his way to a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 triumph.
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Here are the results from both of Friday’s games and a reminder of how another gripping day in this competition panned out.
| Jack Sock bt. (1) David Ferrer | 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 |
| (8) Roberto Bautista Agut bt. (2) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 |
| Jack Sock vs. (8) Roberto Bautista Agut | Saturday, Jan. 16 |
Sock Upsets Ferrer
Already 2016 looks as though it’s going to be a promising year for Sock, as the youngster upset the odds to eliminate top seed Ferrer in spectacular fashion.
Initially the Spaniard seemed set to secure a routine win. Ferrer, ranked No. 8 in the world, was well on top in the early exchanges, with Sock unable to get a foothold in many points in the opening set, which he eventually surrendered 6-3. But with little to lose, he came out swinging for the rest of the match.
It was a bold strategy that ultimately paid off. At the start of the second stanza he won five games in succession, settling into a devastating groove Ferrer was unable to cope with. They were levels that gave the 23-year-old a 6-1 win to level the match up and masses of momentum going into a tense decider.
At least it should have been tense. Despite the superior experience of the 33-year-old Ferrer, Sock looked the more settled, especially after securing a break in the opening game. From there, it was plain sailing for the American, winning the decider and moving into an ATP Tour final for just the second time in his career.
As we can see here courtesy of Tennis TV, afterwards Sock revealed he’d actually been feeling a little under the weather on the cusp of this one:
Perhaps inspired by what he had seen from Sock, eighth seed Bautista Agut produced his own excellent fightback later in the day.
Frenchman Tsonga was seeded second in this competition and has looked in decent fettle in Auckland. He started this match well, putting pressure on the Spaniard’s serve in the fifth game of the opener and breaking at the third attempt. From there, Tsonga coasted to a first-set win, breaking in the last game for good measure to win 6-3.
As tennis writer Ricky Dimon noted during this one, it’s been a very encouraging start to the season for the Frenchman:
Early in the second, Tsonga continued to tuck into some off-colour serving from his opponent, breaking at the first opportunity. But Bautista Agut showed the kind of fortitude that has helped him make it to this stage of the competition, snatching the break back to put the set on serve again.
Neither man gave up much on their serve for the rest of the second stanza, although Tsonga did spurn one match point, taking the second set to a tiebreak. With his back to the wall, the Spaniard produced some sparkling tennis at this key point, winning the breaker 7-3 and levelling the match up at one set a piece.
From this point, both men settled into their serve, giving away little with the ball in hand. The end result was a very even deciding set, with just a couple of break points created in the first nine games, which all went with serve.
But it was always Bautista Agut who seemed more likely to create opportunities and with the scoreline at 5-4 in his favour, he sensed blood on the Tsonga serve. The Frenchman got a little tight knowing the match was on the line and, after letting one match point slip by, the Spaniard was on hand to snatch the second.
If Sock can produce the levels he showcased in the last two sets against Ferrer, he’ll be a tough man to stop for Bautista Agut in the final. There’s a lot of excitement about the American’s promise and although he remains a little rough around the edges, this was an emphatic indicator of what this young man is potentially capable of.
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