Jack Sock beat French hero Julien Benneteau 7-5 6-2 in Paris Bercy to reach the first ATP Masters 1000 final of his career where he will face Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic. Sock dropped his serve twice but broke Benneteau five times.
Benneteau beat Sock 6-3 6-4 in their only previous head-to-head match in Shanghai in 2014.
Both players traded breaks twice in the first six games. Sock got an immediate break in the first game, but dropped his serve in the fourth game, as he made double fault followed by two unforced errors and a forehand error at 30-40. Sock earned another break for 3-2 at deuce. Benneteau broke back to draw level to 3-3, as Sock hit a shot into the net. The next four games went on serve until Sock got a crucial break in the 11th game for 6-5 with his forehand.
Sock won all 16 points on serve in the second set and converted two of his five break points. Both players went on serve in the first four games of the second set. Sock broke serve on his second chance in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, as Benneteau made a double fault. The US player got his second consecutive break in the seventh game after a double fault from Benneteau on the break point and served out for the match at love.
Sock entered the Paris tournament as the world number 24 player in the ATP Race to London and started this week with a dramatic win over Kyle Edmund in his opening match, in which he trailed 1-5 in the third set. He went on to beat Lucas Pouille and Fernando Verdasco to secure his spot in the semifinal. Sock started the week a small chance to qualify for London, but the defeats of Juan Martin Del Potro against John Isner in the quarter final and of Isner against Filip Krajinovic in today’s semifinal have increased Sock’s chances to book his spot for the London ATP Finals.
He is just one win away from qualifying for the year-end tournament. If he wins his first Masters 1000 title in the Paris Bercy final, the player from Nebraska would overtake Pablo Carreno Busta for the eighth qualifying spot and would also break into the top-10 for the first time in his career.
Sock put an end to Benneteau’s dream week, in which he clinched two consecutive top 10 wins (against David Goffin and Marin Cilic) in the same tournament for the first time at the age of 35 in his final apperance in Paris Bercy.
