Elite Squad Tennis Club Director of High Performance Mike Wolf’s Consulting Helps Prepare Wimbledon Champion Jack Sock for the 2014 US Open
Overland Park, KS (PRWEB) August 23, 2014 -- When 10 year old Jack Sock walked onto the court at the Mike Wolf Tennis Academy, the veteran coach could tell he had something special. In the ensuing 12 years, Wolf, now Director of High Performance at Elite Squad Tennis Club in Johnson County, Kan., worked with Sock to hone his game. While he was attending Blue Valley North High School, Sock won four state championships and amassed an unbeaten 80-0 record in high school play, as well as winning the US Open junior singles title, US Open mixed doubles title and 18 USTA National titles. Now Wolf is acting as a consultant to Sock as the young star travels to New York later this week seeking a second Grand Slam win with his doubles partner, Vasek Pospisil, with whom he won the Wimbledon doubles title earlier this summer.
“I’m so proud of everything Jack has achieved and it has been a privilege to work so closely with him for the past 12 years,” Wolf said. “I’m expecting great things from Jack and Vasek at the US Open, and during the rest of the season.”
Sock and Pospisil teamed up just before the start of Wimbledon in June 2014 and on July 5th became only the third doubles partnership in championship history to claim the All England Club title at the first attempt when they beat doubles legends Bob and Mike Bryan in the final after a five set thriller.
And their first Grand Slam win was only the beginning, as Pospisil and Sock reeled off 14 consecutive wins to set a record for a new doubles partnership. This included victory at the BB&T Atlanta Open, where Sock and Pospisil defeated Steve Johnson and Sam Querry in the final. Their winning streak was ended last Sunday by the Bryan brothers, who avenged their Wimbledon loss in the Western & Southern Open final in Cincinnati. Pospisil and Sock will look to bounce back at the US Open, where play begins on August 25.
This is not Sock’s first time playing in the US Open. In 2010, he claimed the junior singles title at Flushing Meadows and the following year won the mixed doubles with Melanie Oudin. This time around, he and Pospisil will go into the tournament as one of the favored pairs thanks to their record setting run and unexpected Wimbledon triumph. In addition to the duo being #6 in the world, Sock has climbed to #55 in the men’s singles ATP Tour rankings.
Wolf is applying the same coaching methods that he used to prepare Sock for pro tennis to working with players at the youth academy program at ESTC, the leading tennis program for elite juniors in Kansas City. With Vicky Flores’s success in the Girls 16 Singles at the USTA National Championships in San Diego, the club recently gained its 100th USTA ball, which is only awarded to youth players who finish in the top three at one of the four premier level one national events.
“We’re proud of achieving the 100th USTA ball benchmark, but that’s only part of the story for our youth academy, Teen Elite and 10 And Under programs,” Wolf said. “Our main focus is helping junior players become disciplined and hard working and to do well in school so they can attend great colleges and universities.”
About Elite Squad Tennis Club
In 2010, Elite Squad Tennis Club (ESTC) opened a totally new state-of-the-art tennis complex in South Johnson County. The 100,000 sq. ft., indoor/outdoor facility is the first dedicated tennis complex built in the Kansas City area within the last 20 years. Learn more at http://www.elitesquadtennis.com.
Julia Haney, Elite Squad Tennis Club, http://www.elitesquadtennis.com, +1 913-593-1090, [email protected]
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