‘Showtime’ Jack Sock shows off by defeating Marin Cilic at ATP Finals

They call him “showtime” and that’s what the American Jack Sock did, as he put on quite a show to come from behind in the third set with a surprise win over Marin Cilic in his second match in the ATP World Tour Finals.

For a high stakes match, you usually need a full night’s rest to prepare your best effort, but that wasn’t the case for No. 9 Jack Sock, who was woken up at four in the morning by the alarm going off at his hotel.

“At first I didn’t know if it was a test or whatever,” said Sock, according to Metro UK. “Then I realized it was four a.m., so I hoped it wasn’t just a test from the hotel. It was probably one of the most annoying noises I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

And he had the misfortune of being near the worst part.

“We’re on the second floor of the hotel,” described the 25-year-old. “I guess whatever happened in the hotel was on the second floor. I guess from what the workers at the hotel said, the location of your room is how loud the alarm is. It literally sounded like the intercom I thought was in our room. Super loud, super annoying. It went on for a while.”

But don’t worry, he was in good company. Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal also appeared outside. Thankfully they had already completed their matches yesterday, with Nadal withdrawing Monday night.

“I went outside, saw Rafa, saw Dominic,” said the American in the Metro interview. “Everyone was all bundled up, freezing cold, just wanting to get back inside. Yeah, it was pretty miserable, to be honest.”

So how did he do after that auspicious start to his day?

Pretty damn good.

Although, it didn’t look like the case at first.

Jack Sock, the big surprise entry to the ATP World Tour Finals in London, came to the tournament with low expectations. He promised to “hit hard” and seemed happy to just be included at all. No shock with his first-round loss against a smooth, precise Federer, losing 4-6, 6-7(4), but he put on more of a fight with Cilic, bringing it to a third set. Trailing the Croat 0-3 in the final one, it looked all but over for the American’s debut at the 02 Arena.

But wait, he decided to attack the Wimbledon finalist’s second serve. And then he hit some beautifully deft drop shots from the net. Before you knew it, he broke back as Cilic’s game seemed to wilt. He entertained the crowd by getting to two set points, demonstrating the strong mind to close one of them and claim one of the biggest wins of his career on the biggest stage of his breakthrough year.

“My coach growing up nicknamed me ‘showtime’ when I was young because I loved playing in front of people,” said the American player, who may be playing ‘Sascha’ Zverev in his final group in order to move on to the next qualifying round. “There’s always a lot going on in my game. Even I don’t know what I’m going to do sometimes but it keeps it fun and I’m looking forward to the next one,” he continued.

Sock keeps surprising people with his series of “firsts.” He had to cancel golf plans with John Isner when he found he went from No. 22 to 9 and got the last spot in London with his win at the Paris Masters tourney, his first Masters 1000 crown. The win last week completed his hat-trick streak of wins this year, in addition to a fourth ATP title from 2015. It’s quite a year for the American. Keep an eye on him, he seems to have found the mental strength to go along with his physical talents.