Spain's Bautista Agut wins Auckland Open after sick Sock pulls out

The Spanish tennis world number 25 Roberto Bautista Agut, secured an easy victory at the Auckland Open on Saturday, after his opponent Jack Sock retired ill in the second set with a virus. The thriller showdown that crowds were expecting in this warmup before next week's Australia Open ended in 28 minutes with a final score of 6-1 1-0.

Roberto Bautista-Agut at the Queen's ATP tournament in 2015 Wikipedia

Sock had been struggling with a virus since Thursday and had lost eight pounds (3.63kg) in two days, his trainers indicated.

That didn't stop him thrashing four-times champion and world number eight David Ferrer in the semi-finals on Friday.

But, if he was able to overcome his bout of flu to score un upset win over Ferrer, he'd lost all fire power by the time of his final showdown with Bautista Agut.

Sock, ranked 26, and well-known for being a crowd-pleaser, looked visibly weak on court, struggling to stand between points and not bothering to chase most of Bautista Agut's shots.

After 28 minutes, and another consultation with his medical team, the American called it a day.

Meanwhile, after a doubtful start, Bautista Agut picked up where he left off against world number 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and raced through the first set in 20 minutes of one-sided tennis against the clearly ailing Sock.

The Spaniard, whose previous titles came in 2014 when he was voted most improved player on the ATP tour, had reached the title-decider by coming from a set down to upset French second seed Tsonga.

He now goes on to play his fifth Australian Open main draw campaign on Monday or Tuesday against Slovakia's Martin Klizan.

Bautista Agut, emboldened after scooping up Saturday's ASB trophy, goes into the match with another added advantage: he's not sick, whereas Klizian is still recovering from a shoulder injury.

As for Sock, he'll be looking for his second career title at the Australia Open; that is, if he's well enough to play his opening round match at Melbourne Park against a qualifier on Tuesday.