Sam Querrey: US Men Losing Before Quarters Becoming The Norm

Written by: Staff on 27th March 2013

Sam Querrey: US Men Losing Before Quarters Becoming The Norm

epa03623126 Sam Querrey of USA serves to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 14 March 20139 EPA/PAUL BUCK |

After Tomas Berdych blew him out in the third round of the Sony Open in Miami, America’s new No. 1 player Sam Querrey intimated that there is no room to panic. While that might be true. it is still taking US fans time to get used to consistently not having American men in the final stages of big tournaments. There were no US men in the quarters of Indian Wells either, or at the Australian Open. Querrey is the highest ranked American at No. 20, with his Davis Cup teammate John Isner ranked No. 23.

“I guess you could say it’s been somewhat of the norm the last couple of years,” Querrey said. “It’s not like we had guys in the quarters week in, week out in Masters Series. But I think we’re going to turn it around. I certainly feel like I’m playing well. I feel like I’m just going to get better. I think John probably a little bit of a rough patch right now. He can pull himself out of it. If Mardy [Fish] gets back in there I think we can get guys back in the quarters consistently. I’m sure it’s not going to come overnight, but I think we can.”

Querrey has had a fairly consistent past year, but he has not made an impact at any Grand Slam or Master s Series 1000. That was not the case when Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang were top players during the 1990s and the early part of the 21st century, and wasn’t the case when Andy Roddick and James Blake were making noise from about 2003-2009.

But Querrey feels like he deserves the top US ranking, even though all the previously mentioned players outside of Isner and Fish at least cracked the top five.

“I feel like I earned it. But the goal is not to be the No. 1 American. I want to be one of the best players in the world,” Querrey said. “So I have earned it, but those other guys are right behind me trying to ask for it back. But for me I’d feel better if I was ranked higher with this No. 1. If you look at the previous No. 1 Americans, they have all, for the most part, hit the top 10. But I feel like I’m just going to keep getting better and hopefully improving and hopefully I can hit the top 10 while being the No. 1 American.”

Querrey and Isner can’t afford to take mental breaks because they have been named as the US two singles players against Serbia next week in Boise. After losing to Marin Cilic in Miami, Isner said he’s looking forward to it.

“I’m not physically tired; I’m not mentally tired,” Isner said. “I’m healthy. Go back, train, and try to get my ass in gear for Davis Cup. That’s a big task for our team, a big task for me.”

Querrey says that if the US team can pull off the win over Serbian team, which is led by No. 1 Novak Djokovic, maybe people will forget about the rankings.

“We get ripped a lot for not having a lot of guys in the top 20 and the top 10,” he said. ‘We won our first round Davis Cup. Hopefully I think we’re going to win in Boise. I think we have a good enough team. I think we’re going to win that. Hopefully I think we’re going to win the next one after that. I think we can go all the way. If we were to win a Davis Cup, I think that would silence some people even if we didn’t have guys, you know, in the top 10 or even a few guys in the top 20.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Roddick, James Blake, John Isner, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Sports, Tennis News, US tennis news