Jack Sock was down and just about out, lying on his stomach on a secondary court at the Paris Masters as a trainer massaged his stiff lower back.
True, Sock had just saved a break point in the previous game against Kyle Edmund, but that had only kept him from trailing by 0-5 in the third and final set of his opening-round match.
It looked very much like the end of Sock’s season, one that had started full of deep runs and promise and largely failed to deliver. But his back felt looser when he rose to resume play, and though he soon fell behind by 1-5, he played with fresh abandon and salvaged the match in a tiebreaker, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).