Jack Sock skyrockets into PPA Red Rock Open semifinals

While the Miami Open inches closer to crowning its champions in Florida, the PPA Tour hosts its own tournament across the country in St. George, Utah.

The Red Rock Open has already seen Jack Sock through his first three rounds, earning a place in the men’s singles Semifinal Saturday.

Two out of three matches went to a deciding game—both of which saw Sock fighting back from a game down. In the first round, the No. 7 seed took on Spartak Rahachou, who has won nearly double as many matches as Sock. Rahachou won the first game 8-11 in twelve minutes, putting pressure on the former tennis pro from the very beginning.

Sock went onto take the second game 11-6, going on a seven-point winning streak en route to a tied match. By the third game, the No. 7 seed punched in the win, 11-1.

He survived his second-round match against No. 41 seed Rafael Lenhard in straight games, 11-6, 11-8, closing out the match on the fifth match point.

Meeting Federico Staksrud, the No. 1 ranked PPA men’s singles player in the world, Sock experienced the most trouble. The two battled for over an hour, playing over 60 points in the three-game showdown.

Like most professional pickleball players, Staksrud comes from a tennis background, competing at multiple universities as well as coaching part-time. The No. 1 seed edged out the first game 11-8, with Sock winning the next two 12-10 and 11-9.

But Sock is not out of the woods just yet. On Semifinals Saturday, he meets Novak Djokovic’s former hitting partner and world No. 3 Connor Garnett. Sock and Garnett have faced off five times previously on tour, with Jack winning only one of those matches.

With two more days of competition ahead of Semifinals Saturday, Sock will also compete in both eligible doubles brackets, men’s and mixed doubles, alongside Genie Bouchard.

While Bouchard also kicked off her Red Rock Open run on Day 1, she lost her opening singles match against No. 18 seed Jalina Ingram 11-6, 12-10, in 31 minutes.

Sam Querrey also joins the playing circle in Utah, competing solely in the men’s doubles event, which is set to take place on Friday, March 28.

Watch every moment live and on-demand from the Red Rock Open on Pickleballtv, and tune in daily as we keep an eye on the former tennis stars competing in the desert.