Querrey Flying American Flag In Houston

Written by: Staff on 11th April 2014

Querrey Flying American Flag In Houston

epa04134388 Sam Querrey of the USA returns the ball to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine during their match at the Sony Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida, USA, 20 March 2014. EPA/RHONA WISE |

By Ricky Dimon

This may not be the golden era of men’s tennis in the United States, but outside of the U.S. Open, Americans at least manage to generally perform well at home.

They almost, however, got shut out from the semifinals at this week’s U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. No. 1 seed and defending champion John Isner lost his tournament opener to Dustin Brown and two of Isner’s compatriots tumbled out during quarterfinal action on Friday. Donald Young lost to Fernando Verdasco 7-6(1), 6-1 and Jack Sock was taken care of by Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 6-4.

Sam Querrey, though, salvaged the day–at least in singles–for the host nation. Querrey received a stern test from Brown but battled his way to a 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3 victory in one hour and 44 minutes. The world No. 82 double-faulted three times in the second-set tiebreaker to help his opponent force a third set. Querrey then survived a 15-40 deficit while serving at 3-3 before seizing a decisive break one game later.

“You have to be ready for anything,” Querrey said of Brown’s eclectic style of play. “He might come in, he might stay back, he might serve and volley, slice a forehand, (hit a) drop-shot. You have to expect everything and not get frustrated when he wins points.”

Querrey will have a much different and perhaps more difficult clay-court opponent in Almagro on Saturday. Verdasco, meanwhile, will go up against Santiago Giraldo.

If he loses to Almagro, Querrey is projected to climb 11 spots to No. 71 in the world. That would rank him as the No. 4 American behind Isner, Bradley Klahn, and Steve Johnson. Young is forecast to rise 10 places to No. 81, which would leave him as the fifth American. If Querrey beats Almagro, he is likely to soar to at least No. 60 in the world. A title would put him around 54th.

Topics: Donald Young, Dustin Brown, Houston, John Isner, Ricky Dimon, Sam Querrey, Tennis, Tennis News, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship