By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Jack Sock may have started the latest tennis craze when he flipped a fan one of his sweaty socks after a win.
Photo Source: Phil Walter/Getty
If Jack Sock’s new post-win tradition is any indication, 2016 could be a very interesting tennis season. The American, who defeated Kevin Anderson 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the ASB Classic semifinal in Auckland, handed out a sweaty sock to a fan after the match, and says he plans to do it plenty more in the future.
We’ve seen sweaty headbands and wristbands get tossed to fans with increasing regularity on tour, but all credit to Sock—he’s taking it to a whole new level with this. Oh, and if you didn't know, the t-shirts make great Xmas gifts.
“We were talking about it in warm-up today,” explained Sock, according to ATPTennis.com. “Jo [Wilfried-Tsonga] has got his thing, a few people have their own things. I think with such a unique name that I have, we figured I might start a new tradition and give a sock away if I win.”
Some might scoff at the hygienics here, but we think it’s pure genius from Sock. Why not have some fun and do something different? He can always put them in a neat little ziplock bag so that the lucky fan can neatly stuff it away in his or her rucksack without becoming too malodorous over the course of a long tennis-watching day.
And think if Sock ever wins a major final—you know you’d want one of those socks!
The 23-year-old American won for the second time in three lifetime battles against Anderson on Thursday, and he’ll face David Ferrer in the semifinals. If he ends up reaching the final he says he may conduct a bit more of a tease to make sure the sock ( a.k.a. Sock’s sock) gets into the hands of a fan who really wants it.
Sock says he got a little tight on Wednesday, and hinted that next time he’d be ready to have more fun with it. "I did it real quick,” he said. “I just turned around and threw it to some guy. I think I need to go out and play it up a little more, hold it up and see who wants it. Whoever wants a really sweaty sock can have it.”
Ferrer, a four-time Auckland champ, cruised past Lukas Rosol, 6-3, 6-4, in 71 minutes to book his semifinal slot.
Later, Roberto Bautista Agut became the second Spaniard to reach the last four with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over John Isner.