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ROGERS CUP MEN

August 10, 2010

Sam Querrey

TORONTO, ONTARIO

S. QUERREY/M. Russell
3-6, 6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You finally beat Andy Murray at the Farmers Classic in LA. What did it mean to you to finally get that win over him?
SAM QUERREY: Well, it was exciting. It was my -- I mean, he had beaten me I think the three or four previous times pretty easily. I had never taken a set off him, so it was exciting to finally get a set off him, and then to win the match was great.
It was my, you know, my highest-ranked opponent I've ever beaten, and to do it at the Farmers Classic where I kind of grew up was pretty special.

Q. You've beaten Michael Russell before usually in straight sets. Today he kind of got you at the beginning. He had a 3-0 lead, and then you seemed to be getting the better of him as the match wore on. I want to know if he did anything to surprise you today, and overall, how do you feel about him at 32 really showing a persistence and having a long career?
SAM QUERREY: The only thing I noticed differently today, I thought he was hitting his serve much bigger than he usually does. I felt like he was hitting some of those serves -- we didn't have a radar gun out there, but I thought some were like 130, which is huge for him, you know, so I thought that was the difference.
But, you know, I kind of knew what to expect. You know, he goes out there, gives a great effort, rips the ball from both sides really fast, competes hard. So, you know, some of them in the past I've beaten him in straight sets, but they've been close straight sets. So it has been tough.
He's 32 and still out there, you know, playing. You know, the last couple years I think have been some of his best tennis, so I think it's -- he's an inspiration to a lot of guys, you know, if you're 26, 27, maybe you're not doing too well, he's the example that, you know, you can have your best years after 30.

Q. You and Russell are friends, and you seemed to be having a little bit of fun out there smiling and he threw a ball at you at one point. Was it fun playing with your friend?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, it's always fun to play your friend and it's not fun to play your friend, because you want your friends to do well but you want to do a little better than your friends. You want to beat them.
That always happens when I play Michael or Andy or James or John or whoever, whatever other American. You know, we're buddies. And, you know, you've got to put it aside when you're out there, but you can kind of still have a little bit of fun at the same time.
You know, right after the match we hopped on the golf cart together and started chatting, so, you know, win or lose, you know, when the match is over, you go back to being friends.

Q. John McEnroe once called you America's next great talent. What does it mean to you to have that come from him and what do you draw from it?
SAM QUERREY: I mean, it's pretty nice that he said that. I just go out there and try to work hard and do everything I can to be the best player I can be, and, you know, I'm just -- you know, I'm trying to do the best I can for myself and for American tennis.
And I know Andy is also trying do that, and John Isner and Mardy Fish and James and Robby and the Bryans. We're all doing our best. Hopefully there can be a group of us that could go to the top 10. You know, we can have a group of great American talents, you know, like it once was with Andre and Pete and Courier and Chang.

Q. There's no Americans in the top 10 right now. You were just talking a bit about maybe the next group coming up. Do you see that happening? Are you feeling a little bit of a responsibility maybe to carry that flag?
SAM QUERREY: Um, I'm not feeling responsible. I mean, I can -- you know, there's a group of -- we don't have anybody in the top 10, but Mardy Fish is playing great right now. We are close to having four guys -- you know, I think after the Open we could have four guys in the top 20, which we wouldn't have in a long time.
You know, Andy is ranked 11. Great tournament next week, he can squeak back in. I think -- I don't feel any extra pressure. I don't think any of the guys do. We want to be ranked as high as we can. We want to be in the top 10. We can only do so much, and hopefully we'll get there soon.

Q. What did that win over Andy Murray in the final do to your confidence and show you what kind of level you can compete at?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, it just -- a little bit was getting -- you know, because I had lost to him like four times, it was, you know, a gratifying win just to let myself know that he's not going to beat me every time. I actually rewatched the match later that night on TV and I played great.
Just every time you can be a top-10 guy or a guy you've never beat before is just going to give you a little more confidence going to the next set of tournaments or even the next time you play a top-10 guy.

Q. I just heard you say when you were coming in, speaking about the top 10, how everyone's kind of in a panic because Andy is not in the top 10 anymore. Is it almost a little annoying to hear all that buzz of people panicking when, as you said, there's four guys who are about to be in the top 20?
SAM QUERREY: Um, I mean, I haven't heard too much about it, so it's not getting annoying yet. Doesn't mean we won't get a lot of questions.
But, you know, it's just -- you know, it's tough for Andy. If you look at his year, he didn't play Madrid, he's not playing this week. You know, unfortunately he went out early in Wimbledon. So, you know, he's not having a bad year.
You could argue that the first three months of the year was one of the best starts that he's had in five years. You know, he quartered Australia and final at Indian Wells and won Miami. So I think he's playing well, and Cincinnati and the US Open are usually two of his best tournaments. I think there's a good chance he's going to get himself back in the top 10 after the US Open.

Q. I think you said at the French those 250s do nothing for my ranking, and you just won LA and then lost early in Washington. What do you do now to start making sure that you do kind of peak for those events which do affect your ranking the most?
SAM QUERREY: You've got to organize your schedule to make sure you're not tired going into the bigger events like, you know, like this and the Grand Slams. And, you know, even though the 250s don't necessarily do anything for me right now, they're still getting matches under my belt, still getting wins and confidence.
But, you know, after the US Open I'm playing Beijing, Shanghai, Basel, and Paris, which are those two 500s and two 1000s, so there's no more 250s on the schedule for me after the US Open, so hopefully I'll be fresh and ready to go for those.

Q. It seems like your serve gets most of the attention, but I'm curious from you what you think is the most underrated part of your game.
SAM QUERREY: My speed. I feel like I'm very fast.
You know, a lot of tall guys get a bad reputation for being quick, but, you know, you look at all the tall guys. They're quick and they're, you know, they move around the court well. I feel like I get to a lot of balls, and, you know, I feel like I'm one of the fastest guys out there.

End of FastScripts

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