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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 12, 2011

Sam Querrey

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

S. QUERREY/J, Tipsarevic
6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Talk about the match. Must feel good to get a W.
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I played great. I have been playing well all week the week leading up to it. I took a little weight off my racquet after Delray. It's back to what I was playing with last year. Racquet just feels, you know, really solid.
I felt that even though I missed some shots today by a few inches, I still felt really good.

Q. You came out of the offseason feeling pretty positive, and it's been a bit of a struggle beginning of the year. Where's your mindset right now, looking back at the last few weeks?
SAM QUERREY: It's great. You know, like the ball has been -- I have been hitting the ball better, the best I have hit it all year, and really positive right now. Really happy. I like playing out here. It's fun when my friends and family can come. Hopefully just play like I did today in the next one.

Q. How is the shoulder feeling?
SAM QUERREY: It's fine. I can't feel it at all. I have been doing a really good job for the last 14 days, doing rehab and icing and stretching and taking my anti-inflammatories.
I have been on top of it and really doing a good job of taking care of it, and it's feeling fine.

Q. Have you had injuries in that area before?
SAM QUERREY: Never. This is the first time.

Q. How much of the Chile match did you watch?
SAM QUERREY: I watched pretty much all of it. It started a little early. I didn't wake up like at 6:00. I caught like the second set on. It was good matches. Massu and Capdeville, you know, played better than I expected.
You know, but fortunately the guys played well and got through, and we're looking forward to playing Spain now.

Q. The injury, do you think it had an effect on all of your year results-wise?
SAM QUERREY: My shoulder?

Q. Yeah.
SAM QUERREY: I only felt it starting in late in Memphis, so just that one and Delray a little bit. But it only really hurt on the serve. Groundies it was fine.

Q. Could it have had anything to do with the weight of the racquet? You're saying you lightened it a bit.
SAM QUERREY: I don't think so, because I put that weight on in November. I played with it for three months and it was fine.
I think it was just -- you know, it's just -- like any athlete just gets some hiccups every now and then, and maybe it was a little over usage, maybe I didn't warm up properly, went out there and started hitting serves and did a little -- you know, maybe tore something very minor, but, you know, I don't know what it was.
You know, it's fine now.

Q. What are you looking to do this tournament and Miami? It's a pretty big stretch for you.
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, two big tournaments. I want to play well and hopefully make runs in both of them. You know, today I feel like I'm off to a good start, and, you know, I played really well. You know, Janko, it's tough seeing him in the first - second round for him, first round for me. I thought I played great. I want to play like that in the next one against Verdasco.

Q. What were you thinking about last year? What was keeping you outside of your injury from your best tennis this year?
SAM QUERREY: I'm not really sure. A lot of times it's just confidence. The ball wasn't really coming off my racquet as cleanly as I would have liked in some of the previous tournaments.
And, you know, a lot of times when you lose two or three matches in a year, it's tough to pick yourself back up. But, um, I'm kinda doing it like the Miami Heat. Sometimes it just takes one or two matches.

Q. I thought you were a Laker fan.
SAM QUERREY: I am. But if the Lakers don't win it, I wouldn't the Heat to win in.

Q. Why?
SAM QUERREY: I really like LeBron and Dwyane Wade. I'm a big LeBron fan.

Q. Obviously when you came out of high school and you're debating college and pros, did you ever think that was the wrong choice? Are you happy with about the choice you made? There was a whole generation of guys that skipped college and never really made it before you.
SAM QUERREY: Fortunately right when I made that decision, basically the following three months I had won three challengers and got wildcards into five tour events and won rounds in pretty much all five. I quickly got my ranking inside 100 I think within eight months.
So by doing that it really, you know, made me feel good about my decision about skipping college. I've never regretted it. Sometimes I will go back and visit my friends on the weekend and see how much fun they're having, but I wouldn't switch what I did for anything.
I think if I would have made the decision to turn pro like I did and I would have struggled for a year or two I might have regretted it. But because - fortunately - I did so well the first year and moved my ranking, you know, upwards so quickly, I think it kind of made me feel good about my decision.

Q. But there are some pinges when you go back to see your buddies at college and what they're doing?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, like, there is. I have three buddies. I live with two of my best friends at home. They're still looking for a job. I'd rather be in my position.

Q. Personal assistant maybe?
SAM QUERREY: No. They're down here just -- they're down here, you know, cheering me on.

Q. So you're the wage earner and they get to keep up the house and do the laundry?
SAM QUERREY: They're close to finding jobs. They pay rent. You know, they -- we're all -- the three of us are all very neat and tidy. The house is spic and span and we all pull our own weight.

Q. The one that was following you around, he went off to law school?
SAM QUERREY: That's Dan Farrugia. Yeah, no, he's at law school, and he got an internship in Vegas during the summer, like real internship for a good judge or something.

Q. So you were kind of a springboard...
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I wrote his rec letter into law school. I'm convinced that's why he got into Vanderbilt.

Q. What did you say?
SAM QUERREY: Just how great he was. I can't remember. I had him write his own letter.

Q. What do you think of Donald Young's win?
SAM QUERREY: That was awesome. I'm so excited for him. I was watched pretty much the whole match because he was on the court in front of me. He's quallied and won two matches in the main draw, so that's four match wins. Hopefully he'll win another.
He's a good friend of mine. I have been practicing with him a lot. I'm excited for him and happy for him.

Q. Was he really that out of shape when you hit with him in December? He was saying you and Mardy were running him into the ground.
SAM QUERREY: I mean, I wouldn't go out of shape. He's an athlete. But, you know, I think he could tighten things up a little bit. I think he's definitely in better shape now than he was in December. I wouldn't call him out of shape in December.

Q. Your stitch work at the high school the other night was impressive. Can we maybe get a comment about your statements made prior to the ceremony?
SAM QUERREY: That was great. To have the flag out here during this tournament was pretty special. And to go over there with John and Melanie and to see the flag and to be part of that was something I'll remember for forever.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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