California’s Querrey knocks out champion
LONDON — In any other setting, 6-foot-6 Sam Querrey is the biggest guy in the room.
At Wimbledon, he’s a giant slayer.
A year after one massive upset, California’s Querrey pulled off another Wednesday, toppling defending champion and No. 1-ranked Andy Murray in five sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1.
Querrey, who knocked then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic out of last year’s tournament, is the first American male since Andy Roddick in 2009 to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal. He’s set to play Croatia’s Marin Cilic on Friday. The other men’s semifinal will be Swiss star Roger Federer versus the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych.
Federer is the only one of the top four seeds left standing: Rafael Nadal was eliminated to start the week, followed Wednesday by Murray and Djokovic, who dropped out early in his match against Berdych because of elbow pain.
Querrey, a veteran of 42 Grand Slam events, finally has reached the semifinals of one of them.
“I'm comfortable on the grass,” he said. “I like playing at Wimbledon. It's been a dream tournament so far. Hopefully, I can keep it going and go one round further.”
There’s no denying that Great Britain’s Murray was bothered by a lingering hip injury — he was wincing more as the match wore on — but Querrey was growing increasingly dominant.
After the match, Murray didn’t use his injury as an excuse, but nine of the 18 questions the Scotsman fielded from reporters were about his hip. It has been a national obsession.
“The whole tournament I've been a little bit sore,” said Murray, who was aced 13 times in the final two sets and 27 overall. “But I tried my best right to the end. You know, gave everything I had. I'm proud about that.”
All the questions seemed to chafe the good-natured Querrey after a while. When a local reporter asked him if Murray’s hip seemed like “an extreme problem … [because] for us Brits, we thought he was staggering around the place,” Querrey eased into a smile.
“I mean, you're British,” he said. “He kind of does that a lot sometimes. Even when he's feeling healthy, sometimes he can limp around.”
Querrey surmised that his own momentum might have exacerbated the discomfort Murray was feeling.
“I think it was a combination of both,” he said. “He was maybe feeling it a little more and I was gaining some confidence. Once you kind of go up a break in the fourth, go up a break in the fifth, I'm kind of playing with house money at the time. I can be more aggressive. I’m feeling better. My shots are going in a little more. As an injured player, you start to kind of hurt a little more.”
Querrey had to do some regrouping of his own at the beginning of the match after losing the first seven points. Finally, he mustered a flicker of resistance with an ace down the middle.
“I needed that one point because I was aware I lost seven points in a row,” he said. “I didn't want to lose eight, then have him serve, probably lose 12.”
Querrey didn’t truly get traction until the second set when he calmed down and started to get into a rhythm. By then it became clear to the spectators at Centre Court, including a full Royal Box, that this was going to be a match. Then, the stunning upset began to take shape. A Querrey royal flush.
Querrey’s opponent, for one, has seen growth in the big man’s game.
“He's coming forward a bit more than he used to in the past,” Murray said. “He's certainly competent at the net. You know, he makes his volleys. He's a big guy up there.”