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NITTO ATP FINALS

November 16, 2017

Jack Sock

London, England, United Kingdom

J. SOCK/A. Zverev

6-4, 1-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When you headed into London, did you imagine you'd be going into the semifinals?
JACK SOCK: I mean, obviously you never know. I didn't expect to be in London in the first place. To be here was a good achievement given the way my second half of the year was going.

Paris was a big step for me. Now to put myself in the position to play on the weekend is another big step forward, another confidence booster.

Some hard-fought matches the last few days. Just fortunate to get through.

Q. You may not know in 2005 David Nalbandian was supposed to go fishing, he was called at the last minute because there was a player missing, and he won the event in Shanghai. Is it easier when you don't have big expectations to do well, especially when you think you are in great shape, probably better than many others because of the long season?
JACK SOCK: I mean, in a way, I guess. I've said in a few of the interviews so far that I think I had a hot start to the year, to 2017. I won a couple titles, played deep into Indian Wells, Miami, played a lot of tennis, singles and doubles.

After that, through March, after that month I put a lot of pressure on myself, had a lot of expectations to keep that up every single week. We're all human. That's probably not going to happen unless your name is Roger or some of those guys (smiling).

You're going to lose some matches, you're going to have some bad weeks, for sure. It's part of sport. I think I let that get me down a lot through the year. So mentally I wasn't in the place that I was the beginning of the year for the middle and second half of the year.

Finally the last week of the year, I talked to my coach at home, Coach Berger who is here with me. We kind of said, Screw it, take that pressure off yourself, go have fun on court again.

I enjoyed being on the court. With the pressure I was putting on myself, I wasn't having the fun times that I had at the beginning of the year and in the past.

I think once I did that, I think now the tennis that I'm playing is the -- the better tennis I'm playing is showing much more.

Q. The other day you reminded us that you won here in doubles with Pospisil when you were not that known. Is that influence or only because London is good city for you?
JACK SOCK: Yeah, Wimbledon doubles and here are a lot the same (smiling).

No, I don't think it has any correlation whatsoever. Just happened to be in London. I do really like this city. I'll give you that one. Yeah, I don't think 2014 outdoor grass tennis has anything to do with the indoor hard courts we're playing here in singles, so...

Sorry.

Q. Sascha came in here and said he felt he kind of choked towards the end of the match, that he played like absolute crap in the third set. Do you feel like he let the match slip or do you feel you really kind of won it and dominated?
JACK SOCK: (Waiting for Zverev to exit the room). Really bad time that ask that question (smiling). Is the door closed?

He said he thought he choked and didn't play well at the end?

Q. Yes. I was wondering, was that the case? Do you think you completely played well?
JACK SOCK: I mean, it's tough. The guy is 20 years old. He's played some absolutely outstanding tennis in his career. I mean, can't even legally drink a beer in the U.S. and he's 3 in the world, playing like he is.

I don't know. It could be nerves. It could be other things. Obviously, like I said all week, I'm kind of playing with house money. I'm going out there and kind of letting loose, having fun, trying to put on a show a little bit, just enjoy my time.

You never know. It could be the expectations for him, as well. Obviously with the tennis he's played, not only this year, but the start of his career, he could go out there and expect himself to play a certain way.

If it doesn't go that way, kind of like what I was telling you I was doing during the middle part of the year and the second half, a lot of things go into it.

Obviously I'm not in his head. I don't know what he's thinking at that exact time. I was just trying to stay in it, stay within a break once I got broken, then when I was up a break, play some smart tennis, got broken back, and at the end play every point hard. It paid off.

As for his side of the court, I honestly can't -- I don't know.

Q. The fact you say you're going out and having fun, it's clearly showing because you're smiling, doing things which people aren't expecting. Is that unnerving some of your opponents?
JACK SOCK: You got to ask them. I don't know. Maybe a little bit. Once again, I have no idea what they're thinking. Could be expectations. Could be nerves, pressure on yourself to do well.

Obviously when you sneak into the eighth spot the week before, three days before the event starts, it definitely takes some nerves away. If I had locked in a spot in Shanghai and I knew for five weeks that I was going to be here, I can do this, I can do that. When I'm looking at flights home in Paris, now I'm taking a train to London after the event, so...

Yeah, I'm coming here playing my style of tennis, having fun, hitting some stupid shots that work sometimes. But just enjoying the time for sure and really having a good time.

Yeah, I definitely think it's helping me, for sure, go out there. As for, once again, their side of the court, no idea.

Q. Coming off your career high in Paris, with the experience of the past couple days in London, do you think you have what it takes to go all the way here in London? What would it take?
JACK SOCK: I mean, why not? I played Grigor a few times. He got me early on when we played. I've been able to get some wins against him. Obviously I think he's a little bit different player since the last time I played him. I think he's really kind of found his game, what exactly he wants to do out there. It's showing throughout the year. He's playing deep into tournaments almost every week, really establishing himself in the top 10, maybe in top 5 now, I'm not sure.

But once again, I'm playing with a lot of confidence as well coming off Paris, playing here, winning some of my matches, getting into the semis.

You never know what can happen. I'm obviously not looking ahead at all. I have a really good record against Roger. If I were to play him again... Obviously that wouldn't help me (laughter).

No, I don't even want to talk. I'm focusing on Saturday, whatever time I play. I'm going to go one point at a time starting in the semis.

Q. Back to the match today. In the decider, you went a break down, got the point penalty for smacking the ball in the fans.
JACK SOCK: I did? Thanks.

Q. Fired you up a bit. Did you harness that or was that irrelevant to how you played?
JACK SOCK: Pretty stupid move on my part to get a point penalty. But it worked.

No, I don't know. As soon as I hit the ball, I was like, Oh, that was stupid. Then I heard him say, Code violation. I'm like, Oh, this is going bad.

But once again, I think it's the same mentality I've kept since the first round in Paris when I should have lost. Just keep my nose down, keep playing every point.

I felt like I was on his serve actually really well today and returning well, at least getting a lot of balls back in play. I think my speed on the court and athleticism is a strength. I was able to kind of use my intangibles, sneak out some points on the return. Knew if I kept doing that, kept making him play, kept staying in points, something good could happen.

I was able to turn it around there in the third, give it back, then turn it around again. Yeah, rollercoaster set.

Q. Last U.S. player to qualify for the semis was 10 years ago, Andy Roddick. How does that make you feel, considering your relationship with your country?
JACK SOCK: Obviously Nebraska is the best place for tennis players (laughter).

No, I think it's cool, two guys from Nebraska, the last two to do it. Like I just said back there, I'm obviously proud of myself and going to enjoy the moment and getting out there this weekend and competing again.

I think for American tennis as a whole, I hope in the future that it's not just one guy playing here at the end of the year, I hope it's a group of us, a clump of us fighting, competing against each other, which is fun. We're all good friends.

I hope it's not once every 10 years we have an American playing in this event, whether it's me or somebody else making the semis here. It's like, Wow. One guy every 10 years, it doesn't go well for us. I think we have a lot of good young guys. We have good guys still at the top that are holding the American flag high.

But, yeah, obviously for the time being, the selfish part of the sport, because it is an individual sport, I'm definitely happy for myself and for my team and family. Everyone is here. It's good to share it with them.

Q. You talk about enjoying the moment, not putting too much pressure on yourself. As the tournament progresses, you get more media attention. How are you dealing with the focus on you and do you think it impacts you for the weekend? Do you feel it impacts you mentally?
JACK SOCK: No, I don't think so. I think I always have fun with you guys, joke around. I really don't take it too serious, to be honest. Whether there's media 24/7 or there's no media at all, I'm still the same guy. It doesn't change me whether my ranking is 1 or 592. I'm still the same guy.

I love to play golf, throw the football around, hang with my friends, all that. Yeah, whether there's a ton of media or not, it's not going to change me in the slightest.

Q. Watching you, it looked like you played as free as you can, like a training session. Hard, but you won it with easiness. Do you think you might feel the pressure now having reached the semifinals already or do you think this is an early Christmas present you got yourself?
JACK SOCK: Christmas presents are nice, I like 'em.

I think no, if I put pressure on myself, I probably wouldn't be here in the first place. I think getting through that first match in Paris, playing Edmund, honestly I should have lost, but ended up winning the tournament. I don't think I would have gotten through that week if I put a pressure on myself.

Then to come here, sneak in the last spot. I'm going to have fun, play big, play free, like you just said. That's definitely not going to change. No one expected me to be here in the first place. There's no reason to start putting pressure on myself.

Q. This is exactly what the problem was for Sascha, he said he couldn't get rid of the pressure.
JACK SOCK: I have no idea.

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