Querrey making huge strides
Giant killer is first American in Wimbledon semis since 2009
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND To take in Sam Querrey is to behold a 6-6 athlete sporting shoes in size 131⁄ or 14, who looks every inch 2 the baby-faced boy next door. But no one should be fooled by his wholesome appearance.
The last two years he has become the giant killer of Wimbledon, armed with an assassin’s serve and forehand. In successive years, he has taken down two guys with the distinction of being ranked No. 1 and also being the defending champion.
This year he ended Andy Murray’s fortnight with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-1 upset that places Querrey into his first semifinal in 42 Grand Slam tournaments. That is the Open era record for most Grand Slam attempts before reaching a semifinal.
Last year Querrey upset Novak Djokovic 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the third round — his first career victory against a No. 1 — and journeyed on to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Querrey, who is seeded 24th, is not quite the known entity as the Murrays and Djokovics of the world. So it seemed natural to ask the Southern Californian after his victory to flesh out who he is for tennis fans. The self-description was a bit wanting: “I’m ranked 26, pretty good grasscourt player. That’s about it.”
Memo to Querrey: Just for accuracy sake, the ranking is No. 28, but no doubt rising with this Wimbledon result.
It’s always a big deal when an unexpected player breaks into the final four at a Grand Slam. For American tennis, it must feel
like it’s time to party.
American men haven’t been on the scene in the late stages of the four majors for a very long time. In just the 2 hours, 42 minutes it took Querrey to bypass Murray, the 29-year-old became the first American to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since Andy Roddick was a finalist here in 2009.
Now retired Roddick, who is five years out of the game and will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this month, was the only American to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in the last decade, which he did at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2009.
Querrey holds the distinction of being the only active American to reach multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals. John Isner is the only other active American to play in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, which he did at the 2011 U.S. Open.
“I mean, American tennis isn’t that bad,” said Querrey, offering a smile. “I know it kind of gets a bad rep. That’s just ’cause guys don’t win majors. We got four guys in the top 30 (No. 18 Jack Sock, No. 21 Isner, Querrey, and just outside at No. 31 Steve John- son), a great group of young guys.
“To be in the semis is great,” he added. “Hopefully myself and the other guys up there can have more weeks like this. Hopefully American tennis will get a little boost from this, maybe, and other guys will gain some confidence and we can just have more and more guys go deeper in Slams.”
Querrey was one of those young players who was singled out as a potential American star almost from the moment he turned down a Southern California scholarship to go pro.
Querrey won the first Challenger-level tournament he played as a pro, and high expectations followed.
While he hasn’t made it to top-10 status, he has had a steady and satisfying career and has ranked as high as No. 17. He has played at the ATP Tour-level since 2006 and can boast ownership of nine career titles, with the latest coming at Acapulco, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the championship match in early March.
In 2013, Querrey had a particularly difficult season when his engagement fell apart. Still looking for love in 2015, Querrey was featured in an episode of The Millionaire Matchmaker on the Bravo network. Unfortunately, Patti Stanger, the host of the show, didn’t earn her finder’s fee by discovering Querrey’s soulmate. But not to worry, he’s in a more than two-year relationship with model, Abby Dixon.
If Querrey can get by seventh seed Marin Cilic of Croatia on Friday, he would be one match away from a Grand Slam title.
But before he can even con- template that possibility, he needs to cope with the newness of being a Grand Slam semifinalist.
“This is the first time I’ve been in the situation,” he said. “I think it helps we get a day off tomorrow so you have a day to kind of relax, wind down, actually hit some tennis balls again before you go out on the stage and play a semifinal match.”