Samuel Austin Querrey (/ˈkwɛri/KWERR-ee;[5] born October 7, 1987) is an American professionalpickleball player and formertennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve, Querrey holds the record for consecutive service aces in a match with 10.[6] He was also a capable doubles player, with five ATP doubles titles and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 23 achieved on May 17, 2010.[7] His best performance in aGrand Slam singles event was at the2017 Wimbledon Championships, where he reached the semifinals after defeating world No. 1Andy Murray in the quarterfinals to become the first American man to reach the last four of a Grand Slam in eight years. At the same tournament the previous year, he defeated world No. 1Novak Djokovic to reach the quarterfinals, ending his Grand Slam win streak of 4 in a row. Other career highlights for Querrey include defeating former world number oneRafael Nadal in the Acapulco final of 2017, reaching the quarterfinals at the2017 US Open and the2019 Wimbledon Championships, and, in the2015 US Open, reaching the mixed doubles final withBethanie Mattek-Sands and the men's doubles semifinals withSteve Johnson. He also reached the semifinals of theDavis Cup three times with theUnited States team, in2008,2012, and2018.
Querrey was born in San Francisco and attendedThousand Oaks High School, graduating in 2006.[8] Querrey turned down a scholarship offer from theUniversity of Southern California (USC) to turn pro.[9] His father Mike Querrey recommended that his son try making it in tennis,[10] as he often regretted his own decision to attend theUniversity of Arizona rather than play baseball for theDetroit 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."[11]
At the2007 Western & Southern Open, he defeated thirteenth seedMikhail Youzhny and advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Argentina'sJuan Mónaco, who had defeatedRafael Nadal in the previous round. He lost to No. 9 seedJames Blake, but made his top 50 debut at No. 47 afterwards. At this time, Querrey was the third-ranked American behindAndy Roddick and Blake.
In August 2007 at theUS Open, AustrianStefan Koubek defeated Querrey in the first round.
Querrey played tennis for the US at the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.[citation needed] He advanced to the fourth round of the US Open by defeating 14th seedIvo 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 forJames Blake, who had withdrawn citing exhaustion.[citation needed] In Querrey's first-ever Davis Cup match, he lost to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in four sets.
Querrey defeated No. 1 seededTommy Haas to advance to the final of theLA Tennis Open.[citation needed] He defeated qualifierCarsten Ball in the final for his only title of the year.[14] Querrey next played at the ATP Tour 500 event in Washington, where he lost to top seedAndy Roddick, in the round of 16. He also played at the Cincinnati Masters losing in the third round toLleyton Hewitt. By reaching the quarterfinals inNew Haven, he won the2009 US Open Series, qualifying for the accompanying bonus following the2009 US Open.[citation needed] Querrey reached the final in New Haven, before losing toFernando Verdasco. In the 2009 US Open, Querrey lost in the third round toRobin 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.[15] Querrey finished the year ranked a career-high No. 25, and as the No. 2 American behindAndy Roddick.[citation needed]
At theBNP Paribas Open, Querrey was seeded 17th and, after receiving a bye in the first round, then beatJérémy Chardy in straight sets. In the third round, he was beaten by doubles partnerJohn Isner in straight sets.[citation needed] At theSony Ericsson Open, seeded 21st this time, after receiving a bye in the first round, he lost to Jérémy Chardy in three sets.[citation needed]
Querrey played in the2010 Serbia Open and progressed to the final, where he faced Davis Cup teammateJohn Isner. Querrey defeated Isner, for his second title of the year, and his first ATP title on clay.[citation needed]
In the Queens Club in London, Querrey beat fellow AmericanMardy Fish in straight sets, in the final of theAegon Championships.[16] The victory made him the first American to win the tournament sinceAndy Roddick.[citation needed] The victory gave Querrey his third title of the season, making him the only player besidesRafael Nadal to win at least three titles, and made Querrey the first player in 2010 to win titles on three different surfaces.[citation needed] This was Querrey's first ATP tour title on grass.[citation needed]
American Sam Querrey playing at the 2010 Queens Club Tennis Tournament.
Despite being ranked No. 21 in the world at the time, Querrey was seeded No. 18 atWimbledon, due to his Queen's Club result.[citation needed] He was entered in the doubles with Isner, where they were the 12th seeds, but the partners agreed toforfeit after Isner played thelongest tennis match in history.[17] In the singles, Querrey defeated 2002 Wimbledon semifinalistXavier Malisse in five sets to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time, where he lost toAndy Murray.[citation needed]
Querrey defended his title at theFarmers Classic in Los Angeles, winning a third-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals against 2003 Australian Open finalistRainer Schüttler, then defeatingJanko Tipsarević in the semifinals, to reach his fifth final of the year.[citation needed] In the final, Querrey faced world No. 4 and 2010 Australian Open finalistAndy Murray. Querrey defeat Murray in the final.[citation needed] This was his first successful title defense, making him the first man sinceAndre Agassi to win two consecutive titles at this tournament.[18]
Querrey next played in Washington, where he lost in the first round toJanko Tipsarević.[citation needed] During his time in Washington, he along withBob and Mike Bryan conducted a tennis clinic for children, where they unexpectedly met presidentBarack Obama.[19]
Ar the Australian Open, Querrey made it to the second round, where he was defeated byBernard Tomic in four sets.[21]
Querrey reached the semifinals of the Aegon Championships, losing toMarin Čilić.[22] 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 theIsner-Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships (11 hours and 5 minutes over 3 days).[23]
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 toNovak Djokovic andTomáš Berdych, respectively.
In Davis Cup competition in Boise, he won his first rubber againstViktor 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 friendJohn Isner.
The year was not very successful, since Querrey failed to make a single final for the first time since 2011.
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, defeatingSantiago Giraldo andErnests Gulbis, before succumbing toFabio 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 toAndreas Seppi andNicolás 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 toAlbert Montañés. At the French Open, Sam defeatedFilippo Volandri in the first round, but went down toDmitry Tursunov in the second in straight sets. His form picked up at the Queen's Club grass tournament, where he defeatedJérémy Chardy andDenis Kudla in the first two rounds. He lost in the third round to eventual semifinalistStanislas Wawrinka. Sam made it to the semifinals of theAegon International inEastbourne, England, but fell to eventual championFeliciano López.
Querrey reached his first singles final for three years at theU.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, where he was beaten by compatriotJack Sock. Querrey then reached the final of theNottingham Open, where he lost to UzbekDenis Istomin. Both Sock and Istomin were first-time ATP tour singles winners.
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 inMemphis, where he would lose to the eventual championKei Nishikori. The following week, Querrey reached the final atDelray Beach, where he defeated AmericanRajeev Ram to win his first ATP title since 2012 and return to the Top 50 of the world rankings.
AtWimbledon, Querrey facedNovak Djokovic in the 3rd round while his opponent was holding all four majors. Despite being listed as high as a 30–1 underdog,[25] 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 the2009 French Open, and his streak of 30 consecutive Grand Slam match wins.[26] It was also Querrey's first win over a No. 1 ranked player. He then continued his successful run by defeatingNicolas Mahut to become the first American man to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam sinceJohn Isner andAndy Roddick did so at the2011 U.S. Open. In the quarterfinals, he lost to CanadianMilos Raonic in four sets.[8] Despite this defeat, the2016 Championships marked Querrey's best ever performance at a Grand Slam.
Querrey opened 2017 in Brisbane where he fell in a Round of 32 match toDiego Schwartzman. He then won his first two matches in the first major of the season (Australian Open) before falling in straight sets to No. 1Andy Murray. Returning to the US, he helped the US defeat Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup by winning his singles match againstAdrien Bossel.
February saw Querrey compete in Memphis where he fell in his opening match to eventual championRyan Harrison. He then competed atDelray Beach where he fell in the quarterfinals toJuan Martín del Potro in straight sets. At the ATP Acapulco tournament he beatDavid Goffin,Dominic Thiem, andNick Kyrgios, before defeating world No. 6Rafael Nadal for his first career victory over the former world No. 1 player and his ninth career ATP singles title. AtWimbledon, Querrey defeated Murray in five sets to earn a spot in his first semi-final at Wimbledon. Querrey lost toMarin Čilić in the semifinals in 4 sets.[27] Furthering his success in Mexico, he won the2017 Los Cabos Open in August, defeatingThanasi Kokkinakis in the final.
At the2021 US Open he reached the quarterfinals[31] and semifinals in doubles partneringSteve Johnson as a wildcard pair. They were defeated in the semifinal by the eventual championsRajeev Ram andJoe Salisbury. As a result, he reached No. 83 in doubles on September 13, 2021. He finished the year ranked outside the top 100 at No. 108.
2022: Return to top 100, loss of form, out of top 250, retirement
On August 30, 2022, Querrey announced his retirement, playing his final matches in singles at the US Open, where he lost in the first round toIlya Ivashka, and in doubles with good friendSteve Johnson, where they lost in the first round toWesley Koolhof andNeal Skupski.[33]
Querrey last played with the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT Racquet after switching from Prince.[35] 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 toK-Swiss.[36] In February 2012, Querrey announced that he will be joining the Babolat team and playing with their Aeropro Drive GT Plus racket.[37]
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.[39]
Querrey married Abby Dixon, a model, on June 9, 2018, in Ft. Pierce, Florida.[40]
In October 2020, Querrey tested positive forCOVID-19. After leaving Russia during mandatory self-isolation, he was investigated by theATP for a potential breach of health and safety protocols.[41]
Querrey has also competed in professionalpickleball and is a PPA ranked player.[42]
He started a podcast "Nothing Major" in 2024 with his fellow retired american players John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock.[43]
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
^"Archived copy"(PDF).www.wimbledon.com. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 13, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)