Jack Sock – “2018 Was A Year To Forget”

This January, Jack Sock tore two ligaments in his thumb during the practice session at Australian Open and that eventually forced him to stay out of the circuit for over seven months.

However, now Jack Sock perceives his absence from tennis due to his injury was a blessing in disguise for his tennis career. In the year 2018, Sock’s ATP rankings sloped downwards from top ten to outside top 100, but he managed to win Slams on the doubles circuit in tandem with Mike Bryan.

“2018 was a year to forget. January was a month to forget here. It’s never great to get injured. It’s very unfortunate to get injured obviously, but I think it was potentially the biggest blessing in disguise for my career,” Jack Sock said. “So to be able to take those months and get a new mentality, enjoy playing the sport again and get excited about playing and come back out, I’ll be ready to fire.”

The Nebraska-born tennis player, Jack Sock was endowed with a break from the professional courts and he happened to spend some quality time at home. Also, he worked upon his game tactics and concentrated some on off-the-court skills which tennis demands. 

“Obviously the biggest difference was just not being on the road every week. It was weird and amazing being home for months at a time. It’s weird being at home for that long and being in the United States for that long,” Jack Sock said. “We’re usually out and about, so that was probably the biggest difference. I was able to spend time with family and friends, so it’s been amazing.”

Former World Number eight, Jack Sock had difficulties in performing day-to-day activities due to his injured thumb and he realized the importance of thumb during his recovery period.

“It’s still a little stiff. I was hoping to maybe start a little bit earlier than this and maybe have played a couple of tournaments leading into the US Open Series, but you don’t realize how much you need your thumb in daily life and in tennis and how I hold it, the forehand was the last thing I was able to do,” Sock said.

The 26-year-old American is excited to resume his tennis on the professional courts and Jack Sock believes that he is back to square one and its a fresh beginning of his tennis career and he will be stepping on the professional courts with minimum expectations.

“It’s still a little stiff. It’ll be stiff for maybe a year to 18 months they said, but I’m able to manage it and play. Overall I feel very refreshed. I’m excited to play again, which I haven’t been able to say that in a long time,” Sock said. “I’m definitely excited to get out there and compete again. I’m just going to go play tennis for the first time in a while.”

“I’m just going to go be happy on the court and enjoy playing and I’ll be the underdog now, which will be nice. I’ll be the ranking underdog and be able to go out and play free and have a smile on my face,” Jack Sock said. “If I win, amazing. If I don’t win, I’m out there playing again. It’s not going to bother me.”