Querrey ousts Murray, meets Cilic
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, July 13, 2017
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Sam Querrey in action against Britain's Andy Murray during their Wimbledon quarterfinal at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, yesterday. The American won 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1. |
Limping between points and fading down the stretch, defending champion Andy Murray was stunned by 24th-seeded Sam Querrey of the US 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 1-6 in the Wimbledon quarterfinals yesterday.
The No. 1-seeded Murray came into the tournament dealing with a sore left hip and it clearly impeded him on Centre Court. He grimaced as he stumbled or landed awkwardly while attempting shots.
Querrey took full advantage to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career — and the first for any American man anywhere since Andy Roddick was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2009.
"I am still in a little bit of shock myself," Querrey said.
Murray is normally a terrific returner, but Querrey hit 27 aces, including on six of the last nine points he served to finish with a flourish. Querrey was impeccable for portions of the match, finishing with 70 winners and only 30 unforced errors.
From 1-all in the fourth, Querrey grabbed eight games in a row to take that set and lead 3-0 in the last.
"I didn't start my best, but I just kept with it. Kept swinging away and then really found a groove in the fourth and fifth set," Querrey said. "And everything kind of seemed to be falling my way then."
It is the second year in a row that the 29-year-old Californian upset the defending champion and top-seeded man at the All England Club. In 2016, he beat Novak Djokovic in the third round en route to the only major quarterfinal of Querrey's career before yesterday.
That snapped Djokovic's 30-match winning streak at the majors. Murray didn't have that sort of recent dominance, but he is a three-time major champion and had been to at least the semifinals at the All England Club in seven of the past eight years.
The hip, though, was a problem. Murray had to skip some practice sessions and pull out of a couple of planned exhibition matches in the leadup to Wimbledon. Even though he kept insisting once the tournament began that he was OK, the Scot was not nearly capable of his best on this afternoon.
Murray's serve speeds slowed, and his backhand, in particular, didn't have its usual verve, either. One key to his success is his court coverage, which allows him to play defense as well as anyone. That was not the case in the latter stages against Querrey.
In tomorrow's semifinals, Querrey will face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, who outlasted Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1. The 16th seed from Luxembourg had ousted Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
Croatia's Cilic reached his first Wimbledon semifinal, having lost in the quarterfinals on his last three visits to the All England Club, and his fourth overall at Grand Slam events.
The other quarterfinals, scheduled for later yesterday are Roger Federer vs Milos Raonic and Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych.
Querrey is the lowest-ranked player to ever beat two-time Wimbledon champion Murray in his 12 appearances at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
Querrey always has had an intimidating serve, but he's never managed to put together his overall game for enough matches to play on the final weekend at a major.
Indeed, until last year's win over Djokovic, he might have been best known for some of his unusual off-court episodes. In Thailand for a 2009 tournament, he cut two muscles in his right arm when he sat on a glass table that shattered. Two years ago, he appeared on the reality TV show "The Millionaire Matchmaker".
Now Querrey's on-court accomplishment yesterday will make headlines. Win two more matches, and he'll be the Wimbledon champion.
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