Sam Querrey


Sam Querrey is an American professional tennis player who is ranked world No. 65 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Known for his powerful serve, Querrey holds the record for consecutive service aces in a match with 10. He is also a capable doubles player, with five doubles titles and a career-high doubles ranking of world no. 23.
In singles, Querrey has won ten titles. His best performance in a Grand Slam singles event was at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, where he reached the semifinal by defeating World No. 1 Andy Murray. At the same tournament the previous year, he defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to reach the quarterfinals, ending his Grand Slam streak of 4 in a row. Other career highlights for Querrey include defeating former world number one Rafael Nadal in the Acapulco final of 2017, reaching the quarterfinals at the 2017 US Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, and, in the 2015 US Open, reaching the mixed doubles final with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and the men's doubles semifinals with Steve Johnson. He has twice reached the semifinals of the Davis Cup with the United States team, in 2008 and 2012.

Early life

Querrey was born in San Francisco and attended Thousand Oaks High School, graduating in 2006. Querrey turned down a scholarship offer from the University of Southern California to turn pro. His father Mike Querrey recommended that his son try making it in tennis, as he often regretted his own decision to attend the University of Arizona rather than play baseball for the Detroit Tigers, who had drafted him. Querrey said that going pro was "one of the toughest decisions of my life. I'd play a match and want to go pro. I'd lose and want to go to college."

Career

2006

On June 11, 2006, Querrey became the first player to win a challenger event in his pro debut. He won in the Yuba City and Winnetka challengers. He won his first-round match at the Indian Wells Masters tournament over Bobby Reynolds, before falling to James Blake in three sets. He defeated American Vince Spadea at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles. At the US Open, Querrey received a wildcard and defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets, before falling to Gastón Gaudio in the second round.

2007

At the 2007 Australian Open, he advanced to the third round. He defeated José Acasuso, the 27th seed, in the first round. In the second round, he defeated Frenchman Florent Serra in straight sets, but in the third round lost to 7th seed Tommy Robredo in four sets.
At the 2007 Indianapolis Tennis Championships, he hit 10 consecutive aces when he defeated James Blake in the quarterfinals. This is believed to be an Open Era record.
At the 2007 Western and Southern Masters, he defeated thirteenth seed Mikhail Youzhny and advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Argentina's Juan Mónaco, who had defeated Rafael Nadal in the previous round. He lost to no. 9 seed James Blake, but made his top 50 debut at no. 47 afterwards. At this time, Querrey was the third-ranked American behind Andy Roddick and James Blake.
In August 2007 at the US Open, Austrian Stefan Koubek defeated Querrey in the first round.

2008: First ATP World Tour Title

In January 2008 at the Australian Open, Querrey defeated Belgian Olivier Rochus in the first round. In the second round, he then beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov. He lost in the third round to the eventual champion, Serbian Novak Djokovic.
In March, Querrey won his first ATP level tournament at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas. In the final, Querrey defeated qualifier Kevin Anderson of South Africa in three sets. The next month, at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Querrey reached the quarterfinals, defeating former French Open champion Carlos Moyà, Andreas Seppi, and no. 7 seeded Richard Gasquet.
Querrey played tennis for the USA at the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. He advanced to the fourth round of the US Open by defeating 14th seed Ivo Karlović of Croatia, where he was defeated in four sets by world no. 1 Rafael Nadal.
Querrey was tapped to play for the US in the Davis Cup semifinals against Spain as a replacement for James Blake, who had withdrawn citing exhaustion. In Querrey's first-ever Davis Cup match, he lost to world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in four sets.

2009: Second ATP title

Querrey participated in the 2009 Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand in January, where he was the sixth seed. Querrey made it to the final, where he was defeated in straight sets by top-seed Juan Martín del Potro.
In the 2009 Australian Open, Querrey lost in his opening round to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
In the SAP Open in San Jose, Querrey beat Cypriot wildcard Marcos Baghdatis in the opening match. Querrey then beat Denis Gremelmayr, in 52 minutes.
In the 2009 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, no. 3 seeded Querrey advanced to the final against compatriot and first-time finalist and lucky loser Rajeev Ram, who had entered the main draw when top seed Mardy Fish had to take Andy Roddick's place in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. Querrey lost the match.
Querrey was seeded no. 3 for the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships, where he made his second final in as many tournaments. However, Querrey fell to unseeded American Robby Ginepri.
Querrey defeated no. 1 seeded Tommy Haas to advance to the final of the LA Tennis Open. He defeated qualifier Carsten Ball in the final for his only title of the year.
Querrey next played at the ATP Tour 500 event in Washington, where he lost to top seed Andy Roddick, in the round of 16. He also played at the Cincinnati Masters losing in the third round to Lleyton Hewitt.
By reaching the quarterfinals in New Haven, he won the 2009 US Open Series, qualifying for the accompanying bonus following the 2009 US Open. Querrey reached the final in New Haven, before losing to Fernando Verdasco. In the 2009 US Open, Querrey lost in the third round to Robin Söderling in four sets.
Querrey's year was ended prematurely by a potentially career-threatening accident in which a glass table he was sitting on collapsed, impaling his arm and requiring emergency surgery; the location of injury just missed causing nerve damage, which could have ended his tennis career.
Querrey finished the year ranked a career-high no. 25, and as the no. 2 American behind Andy Roddick.

2010: First ATP 500 Title

Although seeded at the Australian Open, Querrey lost in the first round to 2003 Australian Open finalist Rainer Schüttler. Querrey then reached the semifinals of the SAP Open, where he lost to Andy Roddick in singles.

2011: First masters doubles title

Querrey struggled with injury during this year. He reached the quarterfinals of two tournaments, both ATP 500 series. The first in Memphis in February, where he lost to Mardy Fish, and the second in Valencia, where he was beaten in straight sets by Juan Martín del Potro.
He was eliminated in the second round of the 2011 French Open by Ivan Ljubičić, and did not play at Wimbledon or the US Open, due to an elbow injury that required surgery.

2012: Seventh ATP title

In the Australian Open, Querrey made it to the second round, where he was defeated by Bernard Tomic in four sets.
Querrey reached the semifinals of the Aegon Championships, losing to Marin Čilić.
Querrey progressed to the third round of Wimbledon, only to once again lose to Čilić. This was the second-longest match played in Wimbledon history, clocking in at 5 hours and 31 minutes, second only to the Isner-Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.
At the Farmers Classic, Querrey defeated Ričardas Berankis for his third Los Angeles title in four years.
Querrey then went on to making the third round at the US Open, losing to Tomáš Berdych.
At the BNP Paribas Masters, Querrey defeated Novak Djokovic in the second round.

2013: 200 career wins

Early in the year, Querrey made the semi-finals in Auckland and San Jose. He exited in the fourth round of Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Novak Djokovic and Tomáš Berdych, respectively.
In Davis Cup competition in Boise, he won his first rubber against Viktor Troicki, but lost the deciding rubber against Djokovic, despite the fact that Djokovic suffered an ankle injury early in the match.
Querrey was eliminated in the first round in Madrid, Rome, and Wimbledon. He did not have a good summer on the North American hard-court swing and consequently slipped out of the top 20, ceding his place as top American player to his friend John Isner.
The year was not very successful, since Querrey failed to make a single final for the first time since 2011.

2014

Querrey also struggled early in 2014, being eliminated in the first round in Brisbane and Sydney. However, he made it to the third round of the Australian Open, defeating Santiago Giraldo and Ernests Gulbis, before succumbing to Fabio Fognini.
He lost both of his ties in the Davis Cup against Great Britain in San Diego in January and was eliminated in the first round in Memphis and Delray Beach.
He made it into the second round in Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Andreas Seppi and Nicolás Almagro, respectively.
He had his best showing of the year thus far in Houston, where he made the semifinals of the clay-court event. However, there he again lost to Almagro.
Querrey failed to qualify in Rome and Nice, continuing his frustrating year. He also lost his first match in the second round in Nice to Albert Montañés.
At the French Open, Sam defeated Filippo Volandri in the first round, but went down to Dmitry Tursunov in the second in straight sets. His form picked up at the Queen's Club grass tournament, where he defeated Jérémy Chardy and Denis Kudla in the first two rounds. He lost in the third round to eventual semifinalist Stanislas Wawrinka.
Sam made it to the semifinals of the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, but fell to eventual champion Feliciano Lopez.

2015: US Open mixed doubles runner-up

Querrey reached his first singles final for three years at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, where he was beaten by compatriot Jack Sock. Querrey then reached the final of the Nottingham Open, where he lost to Uzbek Denis Istomin. Both Sock and Istomin were first-time ATP tour singles winners.

2016: First Grand Slam quarterfinal

After failing to make it past the 2nd round of any tournament since July, Querrey started 2016 with a very strong run, reaching the semi-finals in Memphis, where he would lose to the eventual champion Kei Nishikori. The following week, Querrey reached the final at Delray Beach, where he defeated American Rajeev Ram to win his first ATP title since 2012 and return to the Top 50 of the world rankings.
At Wimbledon, Querrey faced Novak Djokovic in the 3rd round while his opponent was holding all four majors. Despite being listed as high as a 30-1 underdog, Querrey upset the world No. 1 player in four sets to snap Djokovic's streak of reaching at least the quarterfinals in every Grand Slam since the 2009 French Open, and his streak of 30 consecutive Grand Slam match wins. It was also Querrey's first win over a No. 1 ranked player. He then continued his successful run by defeating Nicolas Mahut to become the first American man to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since John Isner and Andy Roddick did so at the 2011 U.S. Open. In the quarterfinals, he lost to Canadian Milos Raonic in four sets. Despite this defeat, the 2016 Championships marked Querrey's best ever performance at a Grand Slam.
Querrey then entered the 2016 US Open but lost to Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic in the first round. He also played doubles with fellow American Steve Johnson but lost to Italians Fabio Fognini & Andreas Seppi in the first round.

2017: First Grand Slam semifinal, American No. 1

Querrey opened 2017 in Brisbane where he fell in a Round of 32 match to Diego Schwartzman. He then won his first two matches in the first major of the season before falling in straight sets to No. 1 Andy Murray. Returning to the US, he helped the US defeat Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup by winning his singles match against Adrien Bossel.
February saw Querrey compete in Memphis where he fell in his opening match to eventual champion Ryan Harrison. He then competed at Delray Beach where he fell in the quarterfinals to Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets. At the ATP Acapulco tournament he beat David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, and Nick Kyrgios, before defeating world No. 6 Rafael Nadal for his first career victory over the former world No. 1 player and his ninth career ATP singles title. At Wimbledon, Querrey defeated Murray in five sets to earn a spot in his first semi-final at Wimbledon. Querrey lost to Marin Čilić in the semifinals in 4 sets. Furthering his success in Mexico, he won the 2017 Los Cabos Open in August, defeating Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final.
At the 2017 US Open he became the first male American to reach the quarterfinals since Andy Roddick and John Isner both did so in 2011, at which he was defeated by Kevin Anderson.

Playing style

Querrey is right-handed and uses a doubled-handed backhand. He is regarded as one of the best servers on the tour.

Equipment and sponsors

Querrey plays with the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT Racquet after switching from Prince. He wore Adidas apparel and shoes until the end of the 2009 season. At the start of the 2010 season, he changed his clothing sponsor to K-Swiss. In February 2012, Querrey has announced that he will be joining the Babolat team and playing with their Aeropro Drive GT Plus racket.
His apparel and footwear are sponsored by Fila.

Personal life

Querrey's fan club, the "Samurai Club", was started by high school friends of his. They attend his matches shirtless with the letters "S-A-M-M-Y" on their chests.
Querrey married Abby Dixon, a model, on June 9, 2018 in Ft. Pierce, Florida.

Grand Slam finals

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners–up)

ATP career finals

Singles: 19 (10 titles, 9 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–02008 Tennis Channel Open – Singles|Las Vegas Open, USInternationalHard Kevin Anderson4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss1–12009 Heineken Open – Singles|Auckland Open, New Zealand250 SeriesHard Juan Martín del Potro4–6, 4–6
Loss1–22009 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships – Singles|Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, US250 SeriesGrass Rajeev Ram7–6, 5–7, 3–6
Loss1–32009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships – Singles|Indianapolis Tennis Championships, US250 SeriesHard Robby Ginepri2–6, 4–6
Win2–32009 LA Tennis Open – Singles|Los Angeles Open, US250 SeriesHard Carsten Ball6–4, 3–6, 6–1
Loss2–42009 Pilot Pen Tennis – Men's Singles|Connecticut Open, US250 SeriesHard Fernando Verdasco4–6, 6–7
Win3–42010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Singles|Memphis Open, US500 SeriesHard John Isner6–7, 7–6, 6–3
Loss3–52010 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles|U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, US250 SeriesClay Juan Ignacio Chela7–5, 4–6, 3–6
Win4–52010 Serbia Open – Singles|Serbia Open, Serbia250 SeriesClay John Isner3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win5–52010 Aegon Championships – Singles|Queen's Club Championships, UK250 SeriesGrass Mardy Fish7–6, 7–5
Win6–52010 Farmers Classic – Singles|Los Angeles Open, US 250 SeriesHard Andy Murray5–7, 7–6, 6–3
Win7–52012 Farmers Classic – Singles|Los Angeles Open, US 250 SeriesHard Ričardas Berankis6–0, 6–2
Loss7–62015 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles|U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, US250 SeriesClay Jack Sock6–7, 6–7
Loss7–72015 Aegon Open Nottingham – Men's Singles|Nottingham Open, UK250 SeriesGrass Denis Istomin6–7, 6–7
Win8–72016 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Singles|Delray Beach Open, US250 SeriesHard Rajeev Ram6–4, 7–6
Win9–72017 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Men's Singles|Mexican Open, Mexico500 SeriesHard Rafael Nadal6–3, 7–6
Win10–72017 Los Cabos Open – Singles|Los Cabos Open, Mexico250 SeriesHard Thanasi Kokkinakis6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Loss10–82018 New York Open – Singles|New York Open, US250 SeriesHard Kevin Anderson6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Loss10–92019 Eastbourne International – Men's Singles|Eastbourne International, UK250 SeriesGrass Taylor Fritz3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 13 (5 titles, 8 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–02010 SAP Open – Doubles|Pacific Coast Championships, US250 SeriesHard Mardy Fish Benjamin Becker
Leonardo Mayer		7–6, 7–5
Win2–02010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Doubles|U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, US500 SeriesHard John Isner Ross Hutchins
Jordan Kerr		6–4, 6–4
Loss2–12010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Doubles|Italian Open, ItalyMasters 1000Clay John Isner Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan		2–6, 3–6
Loss2–22011 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles|U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, US250 SeriesClay John Isner Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan		7–6, 2–6,
Win3–22011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Doubles|Italian Open, ItalyMasters 1000Clay John Isner Mardy Fish
Andy Roddick		Walkover
Loss3–32012 BNP Paribas Open – Men's Doubles|Indian Wells Masters, USMasters 1000Hard John Isner Marc López
Rafael Nadal		2–6, 6–7
Win4–32012 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles|U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, US250 SeriesClay James Blake Treat Huey
Dominic Inglot		7–6, 6–4
Loss4–42012 Citi Open – Men's Doubles|Washington Open, US500 SeriesHard Kevin Anderson Treat Huey
Dominic Inglot		6–7, 7–6,
Loss4–52014 BB&T Atlanta Open – Doubles|Atlanta Open, US250 SeriesClay Steve Johnson Vasek Pospisil
Jack Sock		3–6, 7–5,
Loss4–62016 Memphis Open – Doubles|Memphis Open, US250 SeriesHard Steve Johnson Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Santiago González		4–6, 4–6
Win5–62016 Geneva Open – Doubles|Geneva Open, Switzerland250 SeriesClay Steve Johnson Raven Klaasen
Rajeev Ram		6–4, 6–1
Loss5–72017 Brisbane International – Men's Doubles|Brisbane International, Australia250 SeriesHard Gilles Müller Thanasi Kokkinakis
Jordan Thompson		6–7, 4–6
Loss5–82017 Erste Bank Open – Doubles|Vienna Open, Austria500 SeriesHard Marcelo Demoliner Rohan Bopanna
Pablo Cuevas		6–7, 7–6,

Performance timelines

Singles

Current through the 2020 Australian Open.

Doubles

Wins over top-10 players

Season200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020Total
Wins02132211002422022

World TeamTennis

Querrey has played seven seasons of World TeamTennis, making his debut in 2009 with the St. Louis Aces. He has since played for the Sacramento Capitals in 2012 and 2013, the Washington Kastles in 2015 and 2017, the Orange County Breakers in 2018, and the Vegas Rollers for their inaugural season in 2019. He has one WTT Championship from his time with the Kastles in 2015. It has been announced that Querrey will return to the Vegas Rollers during the 2020 WTT season set to begin July 12.

Profiles