Sam Querrey’s loss means no American male in U.S. Open 2010
American men have been ousted before reaching the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament in 2010. The US Open was no different which is why Sam Querrey has had to answer the same question - what is the problem with America’s Men’s tennis?
It’s not as if he knows the answer to this one.
"A little bit, yes," Querrey expressed quite dejectedly. "I got the same question all summer."
As the sole surviving American tennis player in the men’s draw, the 22-year-old Querrey was defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka on Tuesday afternoon at the Arthur Ashe Stadium 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6 and 4-6 in a U.S. Open fourth round match. It was hard for Querrey to take on the burden of an entire country, not to mention the disappointment of letting himself down.
"I was pretty sad in the locker room for a little while," Querrey said. "I mean, I don't feel that great right now. You know, pretty tired. My body is tired."
Only one American player, Andy Roddick, reached the quarterfinals of any Grand Slams tournament in 2010. He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open but failed to go ahead and win it.
When Novak Djokovic defeated Mardy Fish on Monday, Querrey was the last American left in the U.S. Open draw. Although Ryan Harrison played really well and surprised the local crowd, the 18-year-old American lost three match points in a fifth set tiebreak before falling to Sergiy Stakhovsky on Friday last week.
After players like Andy Roddick and James Blake, and young players like Ryan Harrison were eliminated from this years' tournament, this is the second consecutive year where no American man has made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open.
It appears to be a worrying trend for the USTA.
On Tuesday, Wawrinka and Querrey started with the sun beating down hard with heavy winds affecting play during serves. The match had all the makings of a five-setter from the start.
Querrey had difficulty in controlling his serves, especially in the first round. In the first set tiebreak, Querrey only returned on three occasions out of 10 shots and lost the set on a Wawrinka service winner but he managed to get more than half of those serves during the second set tiebreak and win the second set by hitting a 130 mph ace.
The Swiss player didn’t play the game as he wanted to, neither did he face any grave challenges, and used his fourth and final one on a first serve in the second set. He was awarded another set during the second set tiebreak and lost that one as well. At 5-3, Querrey pushed him to win the fourth set with a lot of ease. Wawrinka faced two set points before holding but Querrey served efficiently and won the fourth set 6-4.
In the fifth set, the trainer came on the court to re-tape Wawrinka’s left thigh.
Although Querrey remained fit, the game got worse in the dying moments of the game. Both players started hitting shorter balls and returned balls without moving on the court - the heat getting the better of both players.
"The last four games, he changed his game because he was tired," Wawrinka said.
As Querrey rose to serve at 5-4, the energized Wawrinka returned from the baseline. He forced a set point with a ridiculous cross court passing shot, but unfortunately a missed lob forced the game to deuce.
Wawrinka finally won the match on a back hand cross court volley.
America will hope that its men will perform better next year and live up to the expectations of their nation.
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