Sam Querrey

Titles Won (1): 

(2008) Las Vegas

Sam Querrey is a professional male tennis player born in San Francisco, California. He began playing tennis at the age of four when he was introduced to the game by his mother. Prior to turning professional in June 2006, Qurrey had a full scholarship offer to play at the University of Southern California. At 6"6 he utilises his height with a huge serve and forehand, and currently holds the ATP record for the most consecutive aces, with ten. As a junior he reached the quarter final at the US Open juniors in 2004 and Roland Garros in 2005. He also won back-to-back junior hard court titles at the USTA Spring Championships and Easter Bowl in April 2005. On turning professional, Querrey became the first player to win a challenger event on his pro debut. During the year he jumped more than 600 ranking positions from the previous season to become the fourth-youngest player in the year-end Top 150. In Challenger player he compiled a 25-8 record, winning three titles. His first title came at Yuba City in California when he defeated fellow countryman Sam Warburg in the final 7-6(6), 6-1. A month later he won his second Challenger event of the season at Winnetka (l. Stoppini) and added a third at Lubbock (d. Okun). On his Grand Slam debut at the US Open, Querrey reached the second round. In the first round he defeated Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets but fell to Argentine Gaston Gaudio in four sets. In 2007, Qurrey stareted the season by reaching the third round at the Australian Open, defeating Jose Acasos and Florent Sera but losing to world number six Tommy Robredo in four sets. In February he reached back-to-back quarter finals at Memphis (l. Haas) and Las Vegas (l. Korolev). The American made early first round exits on his Grand Slam debuts at Roland Garros (l. Recouderc) and Wimbledon (l. Falla). During the North American hard-court season, Querrey posted some impressive form, reaching his first ATP semi-final at Indianapolis (l. Tursunov). He then went on to reach the final at the Challenger event in Vancounver (l. Niemeyer) and his first Masters Series quarter final at Cincinnati (l. Blake). At the US Open in the first round to Austrian Stefan Koubek.

In 2008, Querrey finished in the Top 50 for the first time, highlighted by his first ATP title and his best Grand Slam showings to date. He also made his Davis Cup debut in a semi-final tie against Spain. In January he opened the season by advancing to the third round before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokoivic. In his next tournament he reached the semi-final of the ATP event at Delray Beach, losing to rising star Kei Nisikoria in three sets. In March, Querrey won his first ATP title on the hard courts of Las Vegas, defeating Kevin Anderson in the final 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. In April he recorded his best result on clay to date when he reached the quarter final of the Masters Series event at Monte Carlos, defeating clay court specialist Carlos Moya and Richard Gasquet before falling to world number three Novak Djokovic. At Roland Garros, Querrey was handed a tough draw when he faced world number one Roger Federer in the first round and lost in straight sets. At Wimbledon he lost in the first round to Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero. In his next tournament he returned to America for the hard court season and reached the semi-final at Indianapolis (l. Simon). In August he represnted the United States at the Olympic Games in Beijing but lost a first round match to Russia's Igor Andreev. He went on to play at the US Open and posted a career best fourth round, defeating fellow big servers Tomas Berdych and Ivo Karlovic before losing to newly crowned world number one Rafael Nadal in four sets.