TENNIS US OPEN 2014 – 28th of August 2014. S. Querrey d. G. Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. An interview with Sam Querrey
Q. It was a pretty comfortable win for you. Did you feel that coming after the first match? It was a lot more straightforward.
SAM QUERREY: Sometimes the first matches are always the toughest ones. Usually play better as the tournament goes on. I felt like I played great today. Serve felt good, forehand felt good, I was making the right decisions. Hope I can keep playing like that.
Q. Is that the best you have played all year?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah.
Q. What do you think has been the problem keeping you playing like that so far this year prior to that?
SAM QUERREY: You know, I don’t know. I got some confidence right now. I had momentum after last week, you know, putting together four wins. I’m just committing to hitting the forehand big and serving well, and it seems to be working.
Q. Simplifying things?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I guess so.
Q. Patrick McEnroe was talking when the tournament started it would be great if we could get a couple of guys into the second week. Do you think he was referring to you in particular as the guy that could maybe do that with the draw you had?
SAM QUERREY: I mean, possibly. There is not many American men in the draw to begin with. He was kind of referring to all of us. You know, if Novak wins next round I have to play him; that will be a tough one. I hope we can have a few guys in the second week. That would be great for men’s tennis here.
Q. Seeing a couple of the guys have had a tough go of it; Jack and Steve retiring. Seeing six already out and John is playing now, is it disappointing?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, we’re all friends. You know, we’re all cheering for each other, so it’s tough to see those guys go out with retirements. Hopefully they can bounce back. You know, this is a big tournament, but it’s only one during the year. They have other events, so hopefully — Stevie has had a great year and a great summer, so hopefully he can continue to build on that. Same with Jack. A lot of times when you are put of the singles – both are still in doubles – Stevie with me and Jack won this morning – that can help your confidence a lot for singles. Hopefully they can make deep runs in doubles.
Q. John was saying you’re a much better player than your ranking. Do you feel that? Especially with how you played today. I know you have had some fluctuations over the last few years.
SAM QUERREY: I feel I’m much better than my ranking. If I keep playing like I played today I will keep going in the right direction and hopefully get back up in the top 20. I have played now seven good matches in a row, and so if I just continue do that, my ranking will keep going the right direction.
Q. Do you hope that you’re going to get a big crowd support when you play someone like a Novak at the US Open?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, definitely. The crowd here seems to be pretty pro-American, so I’m sure they will be behind me. They like the stars, too. They will be cheering for him, as well. I feel like they are going to be behind me quite a bit when we play.
Q. What kind of strategy do you have when you play someone like him?
SAM QUERREY: I usually just worry about myself and try to focus on my game and not change up my strategy too much. I’ll pretty much just try to serve big and be aggressive and take my chance was some big forehands.
Q. Does the narrative of the Americans and getting asked those questions ever get tiring for players?
SAM QUERREY: A little bit. I mean, question is fair enough, though. At the end of the day it’s an individual sport. I don’t really care too much. I mean, I want all the Americans to do well, but I want them to do well for them. I don’t really — you know, they are doing it for themselves. I don’t really know where I’m going with this answer right now, to be honest (smiling).
Q. Just around tis time of year it ends with these questions of…
SAM QUERREY: We are all working as hard as we can and doing everything we can. We all want to win and we all want to be in the second week, and hopefully that can be the case in the years to come.
