Sam Querrey downs Feliciano Lopez to move to the last eight – Winston-Salem Open 2012
Seventh seed, Sam Querrey of USA, faced limited resistance in defeating the 31st ranked player from Spain, Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday. The American contender took
just an hour and five minutes to claim victory over his opponent.
Querrey made an ideal start, as he captured opening five games to build a 5-0 lead. Lopez fought back to win three in a row after that, pulling one break in the seventh and reducing the trail to 3-5. Though, the Spaniard could
not equalise the score and lost the ninth game to go down 3-6.
Ranked 28th in the world, Querrey pounded four aces and grabbed 11 of the 12 points on his first serves in the opening set. The American contestant returned aggressively, sealing six of the 15 first and eight of the
14 second reply points. The right-hander put away one of the two break threats he came across and availed two of the four chances of his own.
Querrey and Lopez made a steady start in the second set, as they won their serve in the first six games to square off the proceedings at 3-3. The American player hit a blow to his Spanish opponent in the seventh to move ahead 4-3
and made the most of that advantage to triumph 6-4.
The 24-year-old served superbly, bombarding his opponent with eight aces and clinching 15 of the 17 first delivery points. The 6ft 6in tall was a little erratic on the second serves, committing a couple of double faults and losing
eight of the 17 points on them. The Las Vegas, USA resident did not provide any break opportunity to his opponent and converted the only one created for himself in the second set.
This is Querrey’s fifth straight tournament on the ATP World Tour in as many weeks.
Commenting on this fact, the American said, “I’ve done it before; in 2009 I played every week. I just felt I missed all of last summer, I didn’t win a lot of matches in the first half of the year, so I feel like I am making up
for it. As long as I am happy and playing well, I don’t need to go home to train. I feel fresh and motivated. If you’re playing good, don’t stop.”
Querrey will take on the fourth seed, Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, in the quarters.
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