Who is Sam Querrey? Andy Murray's third-round opponent
Friday 20 January 2017 06:07, UK
Andy Murray cut a frustrated figure against Illya Marchenko, and there were concerns when he rolled his ankle against Andrey Rublev, but it has been relatively plain sailing for the world No 1 in Melbourne.
Cue the appearance of Sam Querrey, the big-serving, free-hitting American world No 32, best known for sending Novak Djokovic packing from Wimbledon last summer.
He is a significant step up in quality for the Scot, as Murray seeks to add to his burgeoning Grand Slam collection.
Querrey has a blistering forehand, with the serve to match. While not the quickest on the Tour, his serve is uncannily accurate, helping him finish last season sixth on the ATP ace rankings with 670 in 51 matches.
With a career-high ranking of 17, he is a tricky customer - one who favours a high-risk, aggressive style of play; Querrey looks to hit lines, rather than stay in rallies.
If Murray's third-round opponent has a weakness, it is his languid movement around the court - not that this was enough of a hindrance last summer to prevent him pulling off one of the great upsets of recent times.
In ousting Djokovic from SW19, the American dethroned a three-time champion, extinguishing the Serb's hopes of a calendar slam, and cut short a Grand Slam winning streak of 40 matches - an all-time record.
Querrey's happy-go-lucky attitude helped him shrug off the magnitude of the occasion, as their rain break-strewn match was spread over two days, and the underdog went to bed on day one with an improbable two-set lead.
He suffered a brief wobble on the second morning, before serving out the match to notch his greatest victory: 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5).
Coming into that third-round match, Querrey's head-to-head with Djokovic stood at 0-8 in the then world No 1's favour. Against Murray, he may well be 1-6, but the American does not pay much attention to the form book.
With that in mind, here are five key clashes the pair have contested:
Newport 2006
Top seed at this grass event, Murray had no difficulty in this second-round match, dispatching Querrey 7-5 6-2 before falling to fellow American Justin Gimelstob in the semi-finals.
Cincinnati 2008
Similarly run-of-the-mill for Murray in the round-of-32 at this hard court tournament. Querrey's forehand-heavy onslaught failed to rattle the British No 1, whose rock solid defensive play allowed him to break early in each set and then serve out the match.
Wimbledon 2010
Of the six wins Murray has against the American, all but one were achieved in straight sets. This one saw the Briton reach his third consecutive quarter-final in his home tournament, where he saw off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets before losing to Nadal in three in the semi-final.
Los Angeles 2010
Querrey's one win over the Scot was achieved close to home, in the final of the Los Angeles Open. The American was second seed and defending champion, while Murray cut an unsettled figure, having parted company with his coach Miles Maclagan earlier that week. The eventual winner came storming back from match point down to close out the championship 5-7 7-6(2) 6-3 - his sixth Tour title.
Davis Cup 2014
The last time this pair met was in the first round of the World Group, played on clay early in 2014. The opening two sets were neck-and-neck, but Murray - whose Davis Cup record for Great Britain is exemplary - soon shifted through the gears to pull away.
The statistics all point to one likely outcome in this third-round match, but - as Querrey proved upon the grass of the All England Club last summer - he is a giant-slayer on his day, and cannot be dismissed as a simple first-week opponent.
