ATP World Number 18; Sam Querrey in 2010
Sam Querrey is one of America’s highest ranked tennis players, hailing from California. As of August 2010, he has been ranked American Number 4, while his career high ranking is World Number 18 (also achieved in 2010). One of the most unusual characteristics
he possesses is his height. Querrey stands tall at 6ft 6in.This is highly beneficial for his game, as it permits him to execute strong forehands and impressive serves.
Sam Querrey holds the record for the most straight service aces ever recorded by the Association of Tennis Professionals. This happened in 2007, in a match against James Blake in which he recorded ten aces in a row. Although primarily a singles player, he
regularly teams up with fellow American and ATP professional John Isner for doubles. This year, Querrey kicked off his Grand Slam season with a first round loss at the Australian Open, falling to Rainer Schuettler. However, he quickly redeemed himself at the
SAP Open; where he reached the semi finals before losing to Andy Roddick, with a final score line of 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-7(4) in singles. He also teamed up with compatriot Mardy Fish to win the SAP Open doubles event. Querrey’s next big event was the 2010 Regions
Morgan Keegan Championships, where he was the eighth seed. The player avenged his SAP Open loss by defeating Andy Roddick (who was also the defending champion) in the quarter finals, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. This improved his head to head record against Roddick to 2-4.
Querrey also defeated Ernests Gulbis in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. The title match was played between Querrey and Isner, with Querrey taking away the tournament title 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-3.
His best performance, however, was the clash in which he defeated British Number 1 Andy Murray at Los Angeles. Although he was down 7-5 in the first set, he managed to win a tie breaker in the second set, enabling him to win his fourth title of the year.
On the other hand, Querrey’s worst performances were first round losses in the beginning of the year. He began 2010 with a first round defeat by James Blake at the Brisbane International; after that, he lost his next two matches to World Number 52 Evgeny Korolev
and Number 107 Schuettler. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Querrey had a remarkably successful season. He managed to win four ATP Tour titles and to climb up the ranking ladder to World Number 18. Although these titles are not too significant in the
tennis world, they did showcase his consistency and mental toughness. Apart from Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, Querrey managed to avoid the top players on the ATP. He did not clash with Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal despite
playing 27 tournaments this season. His classy performance has, however, established him as a powerful player who could pose a serious threat to many tennis players currently ranked higher than him.
The conclusion to his 2010 season is simple; Querrey gave the ATP Tour his best and was rewarded sufficiently. However, he cannot move further up the chart and into the Top Ten without fighting some major players. If he gives the game his best and plays
well, he has a good chance of making 2011 his breakout year.
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