It was an evening session of American proportions as the remaining two semifinal matches were played at the Farmer’s Classic in Los Angeles. First under the lights, Sam Querrey battled fellow American Rajeev Ram. After winning the first set 6-3 very quickly, it appeared that Querrey was on track to roll through the match. But Ram had other plans. Rajeev went up 3-0 early in the second set and showed no signs of slowing down. And though it took some effort, Sam was able to break back eventually and take the second set to a tiebreak – winning the match in straight sets. When asked afterward how he felt, he commented on the fact that Ram is one of the few players that still plays a consistent serve-and-volley game, which for today’s generation of player is unusual, and can throw you off your game rather quickly. But with the crowd’s support (and by crowd I mean the group of about 15 overly zealous Querrey fans who call themselves the “Samurais” and come with drum and gong in tow), Sam Querrey moves on to his third final in four years here in LA. Should he win tomorrow, he will join the likes of Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors as the only men to win the tournament three times. He’ll have to get past Ricardas Berankis though, who defeated Marinko Matosevic in straight sets to book a spot in his first ever ATP singles final. 

On the doubles side, the Belgian team of Xavier Malisse and Ruben Bemelmans took out Americans Steve Johnson and singles finalist Sam Querrey. Sam had only 15 minutes to rest after his singles match finished to prepare for the doubles. And though the Americans came out hitting hard and aggressively it just wasn’t enough – much to the credit of Malisse and Bemelmans, who attacked every single point. And in the end (which came in less than an hour, might I add), the Belgians were just too much for a visibly wary Querrey and his partner Johnson. Malisse and Bemelmans will face off against Jamie Delgado and Ken Skupski 0f Great Britain, who beat the German team of Tobias Kamke and Bjorn Phau earlier in the day’s first doubles semifinal. 

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