2018 ATP Preview: No. 8, Jack Sock

As a preview of 2018, Baseline is taking a look at all the Top 10 finishers, from the ATP and WTA.

See No. 9 here.

8

Jack Sock

Jack Sock's 2017 had everything: a Hopman Cup final, a title in Auckland, a walkover tournament win in Delray Beach, deep runs during the Sunshine Double, a whole lot of losing and then:

Moment of the Year

Sock took advantage of a depleted Paris ATP Masters draw to win the tournament and make an improbable run to the ATP Finals. In the second round in Paris, while ranked No. 22, he fell behind 1-5 in the third set to Kyle Edmund. He turned the set around to win it in a tiebreak, and went on to win the tournament.

Once he got to London, Sock beat both Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic to become the first American to make the semifinals of the year-end championships since Andy Roddick in 2007

Hot Shot of the Year

Why hit a backhand volley when you can just go for a forehand behind your back?

Outlook for 2018

The good news for Sock is that he has the a chance to prove that he deserves to be ranked where he is. If he performs at a Top-8 level, none of his 2017 points should be too difficult to defend. Even if he doesn't win another ATP Masters 1000 title, he can make up the points by outdoing his extremely underwhelming Grand Slam results from this past year.