Jack Sock and Aleks Vukic Early Charlottesville Challenger Winners, Face Each Other in Quarterfinals Tomorrow

November 4–Jack Sock is so loose. While others would be pre-gaming with their headphones and getting in the zone before a match, today Sock was seen casually scouting his next round opponent in street shoes during the first two sets and then sauntering off to shoot hoops in the third. He was on the basketball court just a couple of minutes before strolling onto Brenda Myers Court at the Charlottesville Men’s Pro Tennis Challenger.

And that lack of tension helped propel him to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Cedric Marcel-Stebe in an hour and twelve minutes to set him up with that scouted opponent–Aleks Vukic– in a quarterfinal tomorrow.

As far as his clear mind and confidence, he told me “it’s where I’m at in my career. I know there’s a lot more going on than tennis,” he said. “This is what I love to do. I love to compete and play but life is always a little bigger than tennis.”

“I like to keep it loose. I’ve got my own family now, and my wife and my dogs. I’ve got a great support team around me, with my family back home and my coach Alex (Bogomolov)”, he continued. “So, I’ve got to keep it loose. If I’m not loose, I’m not going to be playing very good. I can lose to anybody, not put on a good show and turn out some rough matches.”

Former Illinois All-American Aleksandar Vukic completed an admirable three-set comeback against Tung-Lin Wu of TAIWAN (that’s right) in the first match of the day by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Vukic is happy to be back on American soil and made a bold prediction today.

On his return to American indoor tennis he told me that “it feels good. I was playing in Europe pretty much the whole year and I love playing back in the U.S. I went to college at Illinois, I just feel way more comfortable here on the hardcourts. It’s a nice swing coming up for sure.”

He still awaits his first Challenger title and he’s more than ready for it.

“It’s a tough field here, but I want to get one in these three weeks,” he predicted. “I don’t know if it’s going to be this week. Everyone’s very strong, so I’m going to recover and prepare and focus on the next match,” he said.