In an entertaining and fun battle, Roger Federer remained unbeaten at the Hopman Cup with a 7-6(5) 7-5 victory over Jack Sock.
The first half of the contest was a very serious battle as both men started with efficient and very impressive service holds. The movement of the Swiss Maestro looked silky and smooth as always, while Sock’s fiery big hitting caused Federer some minor trouble in the early stages.
Both men had early break point opportunities, with the 19 time grand slam champion wasting the more opportunities with simple forehand misses. Some high-quality tennis was being produced in the first set by both players as the first set edged towards a tiebreak.
However that focus and concentration that occurred in the first half of the set then turned into some funny and entertaining moments from both players. This included, Federer challenging on behalf of Sock as well as the American interacting with the crowd. Here are some of the funniest moments from the match:
https://twitter.com/Dalinda_RF/status/948861040686755840
https://twitter.com/Eurosport_UK/status/948858222382784514
Once the fun had temporarily stopped, Sock halted the Federer momentum to take the first set into the tiebreak. The tiebreak saw lots of brilliant shot making by both players, However it was Federer who was the more clinical and grabbed the tiebreak 7-5.
The second set saw Jack Sock play exhibition tennis and slightly lose concentration as Federer was in a focused mood. The world number eight saved multiple chances that Federer created as he stayed within touching distance of the world number two.
Despite a fairly average first serve percentage, Federer produced to some simply outstanding that even his opponent couldn’t quite believe to break for a 6-5 lead. Here is the moment that Federer displayed outstanding footwork to break the Sock serve:
https://twitter.com/doublefault28/status/948874083508375553
Federer successfully served the match out to remain unbeaten at the Hopman Cup and give Switzerland a 1-0 lead over the USA.
Today’s performance from Federer was particularly impressive. His footwork was sharp and his backhand caused the American all sorts of trouble. If Federer produces these kind of performances in Melbourne, then he is going to be very hard to beat.
Federer will play mixed doubles with Belinda Bencic later on against Jack Sock and Coco Vandeweghe.
