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Croatia's Matija Pecotic made his ATP Tour main draw debut at the Delray Beach Open and produced a fine performance to beat Jack Sock 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sock is notably a former winner in Delray Beach, having lifted the title in 2017.
Pecotic had to qualify for the main draw of the ATP 250 event and put in a gritty display to see off the former top 10 player. He is a Harvard Business School graduate and has a full-time job as Director of Capital Markets for investment company Wexford Real Estate Investors.
As far as his tennis career goes, he turned pro in 2014 and reached a career-high ranking of 206. However, his career was halted in 2016 when he had to undergo surgery for a staph infection before that year's Australian Open.
Pecotic then made a turn from tennis to applying to business school. He was accepted to Harvard Business School and opted to continue his higher education over playing tennis. The Croat graduated in 2019 and resumed his tennis career.
After playing sporadically in 2021 and 2022, he was included in Croatia's squad for this year's United Cup. His only appearance in the tournament came in a doubles fixture against France, where he partnered Petra Marcinko. The pair lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jessika Ponchet and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
"I had to leave work early today" - Matija Pecotic after beating Jack Sock
Speaking after his win over Jack Sock, Matija Pecotic said that he believed he would have a chance of winning if he sunk his teeth into the match.
"You've got to be realistic. This is a former top 10 guy with an incredible amount of tennis experience, with a huge serve. He came out serving 134 [mph] on the first serve. It would be arrogant to think that I'm going to come out and expect to win," Pecotic said.
"But I certainly figured if I could sink my teeth into the match and work on the two or three patterns that I prepared before, that I'm going to have a chance. And then let's see if I was going to fall under pressure or not be able to serve it out at some point. But I didn't and I got the win," he added.
The Croat also joked that he had to leave work early on the day of the match and would have to ask for another day off for his next match.
"I had to leave work early today. I had to send an email to the whole team. [My boss] let me off. I'm going to have to ask for another day off tomorrow," Matija Pecotic said.
Pecotic will face Marcos Giron in the second round. The winner will face either fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic or Nuno Borges in the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open.
