Sam Querry came into the summer hard-court campaign hoping for the kind of run Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro enjoyed last year — an inspired streak that saw the then-19-year-old grab consecutive titles in Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, L.A. and Washington, while climbing into the top 20.
It was an ambitious goal for the towering 6-foot-6 Southern Californian, but following a third-round exit at Wimbledon, Querrey reached a pair of finals in Newport and Indianapolis, and has now reached the semis of the L.A. Tennis Open. Querrey upended No. 4-seed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-3, 7-5 on Friday in one hour and 16 minutes at the L.A. Tennis Center. Querrey will next meet top-seeded German Tommy Haas, who defeated No. 8 seed Marat Safin 7-6(3), 6-2.
“I served well out there and usually when I serve well I win most of the time,” said Querrey, who dropped only two points on his first serve.
“I thought we both played a good match,” said Sela. “It’s tough to play against Querrey. If you lose one service game the set is pretty much over. It is very hard to break his serve.”
Out-of-the-blue qualifier Carsten Ball of Australia reached his first ATP semi via a 6-4 6-4 win over John Isner. The 22-year-old son of former touring pro Syd Ball, became the first qualifier to reach the L.A. semis since 1999. Ball will next meet Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, who advanced with a walkover when Mardy Fish pulled out with an abdominal strain.
