By Bill Simons
When you ask Sam Querrey about a favorite memory, he’ll tell you of a day when he was 17 and piled 15 best buddies into his beloved old blue VW van, driving them to a Thousand Oaks High School hoops game.
Nine years later, the USTA may have gone through hoops to construct their makeshift Davis Cup site—an astounding sports venue within a sports venue, Petco Park, which featured a velvety $750,000 clay court.
But Querrey—who has thrived in the Southwest, collecting all four of his tourney wins there—probably won’t have many cozy memories of his Davis Cup weekend in San Diego. He dropped a decisive match to No. 175-ranked James Ward on Friday, and could not score a redemptive win over Andy Murray on Sunday. Murray’s 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-1 6-3 vidtory over Querrey clinched the tie for Great Britain.
It was the first time in 77 years that the Brits beat the US in Davis Cup, and the first time they beat us on American soil since 1903. Britain will be in the Davis Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1984—three years before Andy Murray was born.
To his credit, Querrey came out today with conviction, even though he’d lost to Murray in five of their six matches, and hadn’t won a set in their last three encounters.
Querrey lost his serve twice in the first set, but he battled, breaking back just as often to force a critical tiebreak.
The lean 6’6” Californian is a minor wonder when blasting an ace or unleashing his power forehand. But at the net, Sam is not exactly the Man. Down set point, he made a hash of a delicate forehand volley. Opening set to Andy Murray.
Still, Querrey fired right back. Playing with aggression and goaded on by US captain Jim Courier to attack whenever possible, he served big, hitting a forehand to the open court to score a 7-3 win in the second-set tiebreak and even the match.
““Sticky wicket,” a guy called out to Murray.
“Right on Q,” yelled one fan. “Keep it up, Sam,” cried another.
But Sam couldn’t.
In contrast, Murray didn’t blink. It’s as if the pale Scot said, “Okay, good Yankee lad, you’ve had your moment in the Davis Cup sun. Now, let the defending Wimbledon champion and Olympic gold medalist show you how it’s done.”
Andy adjusted his tactics. He slowed his serve, getting more first serves in, hitting to Querrey’s body, and dominating with first-strike forehands. This was not victory by a thousand drop shots—it just seemed that way. Like Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, Murray is a defensive marvel. He opens the court with a geometric savvy that dazzles. If you think the Brit has a weakness, puh-leez send Mr. Sam Austin Querrey a letter. We’re sure he’d appreciate it.
Simply put, Murray imposes and punishes. His opponents are left running corner to corner, quite breathless.
Just as he did against James Ward on Friday, Querrey suffered a free fall. He lost the first four games of the third set, allowing Murray to blow the match open en route to a workmanlike four-set win in 2:54 that concluded with an impressive group celebratory dance with his close-knit British blokes. Murray has scored 18 consecutive Davis Cup match victories.
For his part, US captain Jim Courier spoke of Querrey’s fight, noting that he “laid it on the line.” “Quite frankly,” said Courier, “Sam was a different player than he was on Friday. He went for his shots. That’s the kind of belief he needs to play his very best.”
Yet the lack of a sense of devastation in the American camp was noteworthy, almost disconcerting. “This is pathetic,” complained an unsparing Newport Beach fan. “Where’s the urgency?”
Reflecting on the weekend, Querrey said, “I had some ups and downs, definitely. I’m bummed I lost the first one [against Ward] … I obviously wanted to help the team out. [But] I’m proud of myself for putting it behind me and coming out strong today. You know, we’ve got another Davis Cup later in the year, and we’ve got next year and the year after.”
Still, America’s loss begged many a question. Choosing to play on clay was thinking outside the hard court box, but when all was said and done, did we actually out-think ourselves? Would Querrey have lost his crucial opening match to James Ward if it had been on a hard court? How different a result would it have been if our No. 1 player, John Isner, hadn’t been injured? And what if we’d won the toss and Querrey came out fresh to play James Ward, pressure-free?
Most important, is this loss just a bump in the road for American men’s tennis, or is it a significant marker of how serious our problems have become? After all, our two top American men are only ranked No. 13 and No. 49, there are no real red-hot prospects in the wings, and our last win in a men’s Slam—Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open—seems like a distant memory.
Regardless, this Davis Cup weekend produced some memories, even if they aren’t as sweet or as tight as kid-Querrey packing 15 of his best pals into a vintage VW van. The arena at Petco Park was a bold, brave, and very successful experiment. Can AT&T Park, Yankee Stadium, or Fenway be next? Donald Young got his Davis Cup initiation. The Bryan Brothers got back into the winning column, and maybe, just maybe, we will learn a very hard lesson and stick to our boring old hard-earned strength: the hard courts.
