With the line for a Sam Querry autograph stretching across the courtyard out at the National Tennis Center this afternoon, it was clear that Querrey’s popularity and fan recognition has taken off here at the Open.
It’s not just that he toppled the No. 14 seed Ivo Karlovic on Saturday to reach his first Round of 16 at a Grand Slam, or that he’s a 20-year-old, up-and-coming American star and one of only three Americans left in the men's draw. He also stays around after his matches signing autographs for what feels like forever, and a day before taking on No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal, he took 45 minutes out of his day to sit at a booth on the grounds of the National Tennis Center and sign autographs.
Yet, while the bonhomie is bubbling right now between Querrey and the American tennis public, there’s more caution than confidence, even when you head to the heart of the Querrey fan camp, when looking ahead to his next task at hand.
While Querrey hung out with his fans he appeared loose and at ease. He also appears undaunted about going up against the No. 1 seeded Nadal, who’s won the past two Grand Slams, the Olympics and 41 of his last 42 matches, ripping the No. 1 ranking out of Roger Federer’s grasps in August. If those accomplishments weren’t intimidating enough here at the Open, he also leads the tour in hard-court wins this year with a 36-7 record and has won a total of 8 titles this year.
“I feel I have no pressure, I can go out there and just swing away and see what happens," Querrey said, looking every bit as relaxed as that statement sounds. “Hopefully, I’ll have the crowd behind me and I can feed off that energy."
Querrey, who says his strategy against Nadal will pretty much be to just “grip and rip," will definitely have the crowd behind him, and even Nadal knows that.
“I understand perfectly the crowd is going to support Sam," said Nadal. “He's from United States, and for that reason the crowd’s going to be with him, no? But I think going to be with him, not against me."
In fact, the crowd support won’t be the only advantage Querrey takes into the match. He also has arguably the bigger serve. There’s also the fact that Nadal has struggled here in the past. He lost in the Round of 16 last year to David Ferrer, and he’s never gone past the quarters in New York.
On top of that, while Nadal has proven this year that he’s the dominant player on clay, grass and hard courts, Querrey has proven himself to be more than a serving machine. While much is made of his having procured his first tour victory this year in Las Vegas, arguably his most impressive event this year came on red clay at the Masters event in Monte Carlo, where he reached the quarters with wins over former French Open champion and then No. 14-ranked Carlos Moya, and top-10 player Richard Gasquet.
In fact, it’s that Querrey can back up his huge serve with an impressive ground game that hopeful Querrey fans look to when searching for optimism regarding his chances against the world’s No. 1.
“He has big groundstrokes for a big man, and that’s not common in the game today," said Ben Teicher, 14, of Kendall Park, N.J., who has followed Querrey for a couple of years now and was in line to get a Querrey signature. “I actually think he has a good chance because he’s a big guy and he has the United States behind him. Everyone will be into that match.’’
Jason Hodess, 16, of Westchester, Penn., wasn’t about to make any bold predictions while he waited in line to meet Querrey, although he said he felt Querrey had about a 1-in-5 chance of pulling out a huge upset. “But I think, no matter what, he’s going to put on a good match, and I think he’s going to have a lot of fun out there.”
Ramon Nola, 18, and his mother, Manilay, from Goddard, Kan., were less optimistic. Or, perhaps the phrase should more realistic, considering how well Nadal has been playing coming into New York this year.
“If he plays perfect, you never know," said Manilay. “It’s a tall order."
“But," said Jason, echoing the sentiment of the crowd gathered, “we’re still going to be rooting for him.”
