Paris Masters champion Jack Sock has warned World No. 1 Roger Federer, 10-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal and Serbinator Novak Djokovic that their reign at the top of men’s tennis is about to come to an end.
Sock, who is the only American to feature in the top-10 of the official ATP rankings, will be eying to do some damage at the Indian Wells Masters, which began on Wednesday.
The World No. 10 has been seeded eighth and has been given a bye in the first round of the event in California. Sock is in the bottom half of the draw and can only meet Federer in the final of the tournament. However, he may have to deal with former US Open champions Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro and German prodigy Alexander Zverev if he is to progress through to the business end of the competition.
While Nadal is out of the tournament due to a hip injury, Federer and Djokovic will be looking forward to create history in the Coachella Valley. Both the Swiss and the 12-time Major winner have won the BNP Paribas Open five-times and whosoever is able to win the tournament in 2018, he will become the first man to win it on six different occasions.
“There’s a guy named Federer, another named [Rafael] Nadal and [Novak] Djokovic winning a lot of tournaments in the last 15 years so it’s not the easiest just to weasel your way in there and win,” Sock said.
“But I think the sport is changing a little bit… I think there’s a new wave coming in.
“I think the [American] fans are used to having someone winning a slam, at least competing to win a slam, winning multiple tournaments outside of that.
“There were multiple guys in the past to get behind.
“Obviously there hasn’t been that level yet. We’re all doing our best. It’s a tough sport.”
