Blumberg/Sock Claim Newport Title
American pair William Blumberg and Jack Sock overcame Austin Krajicek and Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 7-6(3) on Sunday in Newport to capture the Hall of Fame Open doubles trophy in their team debut week together.
Blumberg and Sock dropped just one set en route to the title and they dominated for large parts in the championship match against the American-Canadian tandem. They served well, winning 77 per cent (27/35) of their first-service points to record victory in 82 minutes.
”It means a lot,” Sock said. “It has been an unfortunate two years, 2019 with the thumb surgery and then with Covid hitting, it has been an interesting couple of years. A lot of time to reflect and regroup. I feel better physically and mentally and am very excited to be back on tour, winning matches.
“My confidence is high right now. Not many people believed in me a couple of years ago. Hopefully it is just the beginning of the second half of my career.”
Blumberg added: “It is an honour to play with Jack and in front of my family, so that especially was just awesome. On top of that, to get a win, it has just been a great week.”
It was Sock’s first tour-level doubles title since 2018, when he won the Nitto ATP Finals (w/M. Bryan) in London. The American now holds a 15-10 record in tour-level doubles finals. He claimed the 2014 Wimbledon crown with Pospisil (d. Bryan/Bryan) in their first event as a team.
“We [Pospesil and I] had an incredible start to our partnership together, with Wimbledon. We had a lot of incredible moments on court together. It is definitely different playing against him, but it is always fun.”
Blumberg was competing in just his second tour-level doubles event this week, having played at the 2017 US Open with Spencer Papa.
Blumberg and Sock broke in the opening game as they moved into a 2-0 lead. They returned with good depth throughout the first set and closed the net effectively to move ahead. With momentum in their favour, they seemed to be marching towards victory after an early break in the second set.
However, Krajicek and Pospisil started to step inside the baseline on return and crucially broke to level at 3-3 when Sock netted a forehand. They then recovered from 0/40 in the 11th game as the set moved to a tie-break. Blumberg and Sock were too strong from there, though, sealing victory when Blumberg hammered a volley through Pospisil.
Krajicek and Pospisil were also competing together for the first time this week. Krajicek now holds a 4-6 record in tour-level finals with Pospisil at 7-8.