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WIMBLEDONJune 29, 2012Sam QuerreyLONDON, ENGLAND S. QUERREY/M. Raonic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. That might be your biggest win in what a year? Certainly at a slam? SAM QUERREY: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I have only played two other slams in the year, and I lost to Tomic and lost to Tipsarevic. This is definitely my biggest win in a long time. It was a big moment, a big court, and it feels great. Q. You were pretty psyched after the match. SAM QUERREY: Yeah, usually I'm pretty calm and collected after a win or loss, but, yeah, kind of let it out there a little bit at the end. It just felt good. You know, I was out for a while, and I feel like I'm coming back. Ranking is moving up. Just nice to be in the third round of a slam again. Q. It wasn't easy coming back, clearly. This time last year you were having the elbow surgery and you started climbing back in the fall. It's taken a while. Can you talk a little bit about the process to get the level back? SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, when I got injured and, you know, missed Wimbledon through the US Open, you know, I thought I was just going to come back and be right back where I left off playing‑wise. You know, go deep in a couple tournaments and my ranking will move back quickly. It's just not the case, as I think most people would learn with a injury. You know, I feel like I'm play well now. Hopefully after the summer my ranking can be back in the top 20. It can take a year or even longer for people to get back where they are. You know, Sharapova is somewhat of an example. She was No. 1, and that's on kind of a larger scale than what I was doing, but it took her four years to return to No. 1 after some injuries and fallouts to come back. So it really is tough. I think you can turn it around. You have to have patience and be positive, and the hard work will pay off eventual. Q. What were your thoughts as you saw the Nadal match unfold last night? SAM QUERREY: I only saw the last point. (Laughter.) I didn't finish until about 9:15 on my court. I showered and stretched and stuff like that. So I just saw the last point. Then I saw the highlights later. But, I mean, Rosol looked like he played unbelievable. Just, you know, went for everything, served unbelievable. You know, that's what you have to do when you're playing these top guys. You know, I didn't really think about it too much, but it was just ‑‑I was happy for him. It was fun to watch the highlights. Q. How would you describe the effect on your half of the draw? SAM QUERREY: I mean, I'm sure the British press sees a nice little path for Andy. He's lost to Nadal the last couple times. I mean, he's been in the final I think five years in a row. Q. Five times. SAM QUERREY: Five times. Yeah, that's right. You know, it's going to be someone new. It's an opportunity for someone else to get to a final and possibly win it. Q. How does it affect your thinking? SAM QUERREY: I mean, I don't play Nadal, so, I mean, if we match up, that's a long way away. He's not there anymore, but I haven't thought about it once, actually. Q. You talk about coming back from an injury, the physical part, but is there a mental part where you sort of worry something will go out again or something will hurt or you'll twist it? SAM QUERREY: Just at the very beginning. When I was out for three or four months, the first few weeks back I wasn't being‑‑ you know, I wasn't going after my serve 100% like I used to because I knew what that pain felt like. You know, it probably took a month once I was playing again to really trust myself again with the motion of swinging all out on my serve. Q. You must be pretty pleased with the way you returned. Big serves, but then you got a return on his game, too. You returned serve pretty well today. SAM QUERREY: He's got a huge serve. I went out there expecting to get aced 30 times. I don't know how many he had. Just tried to stay positive. I feel like I do a decent job of returning the serve. I have a big wing span, so it's not horrible for me. I was really happy with the way I returned. I felt like every time I got my racquet on it I did a pretty good job of putting it in play. Q. Have you become a better competitor since the injury? SAM QUERREY: That's tough. I think I am now. The last like month I feel like I have been a better competitor. I feel like October through, like, March I was still kind of getting my bearings. But I feel like I'm back to that place where I was a year ago where, you know, I could tough out these long matches and kind of fight my way through them better than I was the first part of the year. Q. Do you think you're a better competitor now than you were before the injury? SAM QUERREY: No, but I hope I can keep playing and become a better one, but I haven't really noticed I'm a better one now. Q. What has changed for you in the past month that you said you started to notice you're becoming competitive again? SAM QUERREY: I think I have lost a couple of matches to good players. I lost a couple to Anderson beginning of the year like 7‑6 in the third; I played a great first set against Tipsarevic at the French Open, and lost the next three really close; Queen's I made a semifinal. So I feel like I'm just playing better. I'm starting to put more consistent results out there. I'm getting some top 50 wins and things like that. So it's just kind of a combination of a few things. Q. What do you expect of yourself? Do you expect top 20? I mean, you were getting to top 20, probably anticipating top 10. I mean, did the injury take your goals and throw them down the trash, or did you have to reassess? SAM QUERREY: No, it just changed them a little bit. My goal right now is to get back in the top 20. From there, you know, move forward and hopefully try to find myself in the top 10. Q. Can you speak a bit about your next opponent and what special challenge that poses for you? SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I play Cilic. Played twice before, once here. I lost in five sets, and then two weeks ago in Queen's lost in three sets. It's going to be a tough one. It's rare to play a guy all three times on grass because it's such a short season. It's kind of a similar style to Raonic. His serve might not be quite as big, but, you know, maybe he's a little more dynamic from the baseline. But it's going to be tough. We have played twice before. Both are tough three‑setters. I'm going to try to be a little more aggressive than usual or two weeks ago. He's just a tough guy. No one wants to see Cilic in his draw. Q. Most people who criticized you in the past at any time tended to say you lacked intensity, didn't seem to want it as much as other guys have. Has that changed? And if so, why? Was it fair or wasn't it fair? SAM QUERREY: I mean, I could see how people could get that. Everyone shows intensity in a different way. Some guys are more open about it; some guys are quieter. I don't think it means any guy wants it more than the next guy. But I think just lately I feel like I have been a little more vocal, little more kind of showing that I want it just because it's been a year and I feel like I'm getting back out there and it's just a different feeling. It feels like it's almost like I'm starting over again, like I'm 19 years old trying to climb my way back up the rankings. Q. Does a win like today help confirm that you are getting back to where you were? SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I think so. Even if I lost today, I still feel like I would have been right there and that I was still doing the right things and on the right track to get back to where I used to be. But the win probably boosts my confidence a little bit more. Q. Of all the upsets you're familiar with in tennis and other sports, how would you rate what happened last night with Nadal? SAM QUERREY: I mean, it's got to be one of the biggest ‑‑I mean, definitely in tennis, looking back at the last, you know, few years that I can remember, it's probably the biggest upset I can remember. But, I mean, you know, it's one of those from the highlights that I saw that Rosol just played unbelievable. Seemed like he would have beat almost anyone last night. So, you know, I know Rafa is probably bummed, but sometimes a guy can just come out and just swing for the fences and everything can land in. Q. How much do you know about Rosol? What kind of player is he now that everybody seems to want to know who he is? SAM QUERREY: I never played him. Never hit with him. I've just seen him play a little bit. So I didn't really know much either until I watched last night. You know, I think he kind of ‑‑he stunned England last night. I think a lot of people know who he is right now. Hopefully he can back that up with another win and maybe a few more. Q. We're seeing so few guys breaking through now 17, 18, 19. Why do you think that is? Is it just physical? SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I would say it's probably physical. It might be just kind of something that comes in waves. I feel like my year, we had like seven or eight teenagers in the top 100. We don't have any now. Maybe in a few years we might have seven or eight more. I think it's just something that kind of comes in waves up and down. Q. Can you talk about a little bit about working with Brad? SAM QUERREY: Yeah, Brad's been a huge help. It's great to have a tennis mind like his, you know, on my side. He's a great motivator, great coach. I mean, I think anyone agrees probably one of the best coaches out there, and so it's been a huge help for me. Q. What are some of the things he's been telling you? SAM QUERREY: I mean, obviously it's different from everyone that we, you know, that I play, but we're just working on playing big. Hitting big first serves, big second serves, big forehands. I'm just trying to come at guys more. You know, that's the stuff we work on. Lots of just, you know, short ball, just boom, hit it. Hit it as hard as you can and keep coming. Q. Do you think they should close the roof because it's getting dark or just close it because it's going to rain? It changes the conditions. You have an indoor tournament, indoor match at that point. Should you wait and play the next day if it's not compelling that you have to finish the match? SAM QUERREY: I mean, they built the roof. I think they need to come up with a black and white rule. I think if the weather forecast looks like it's rain on again off again, I'd be in favor just closing the roof for the day. Even if it doesn't rain for the day but the forecast looks bad just keep it closed. As far as the nighttime thing, I would just ‑‑it's tough. I don't really have ‑‑I haven't really played on it where I have had to go off like they did last night. I mean, I would say just keep it closed the whole time. But then again, if that match last night was three sets or four sets they would have been done. Too bad it doesn't close in like a minute. (Laughter.) I don't really have an opinion either way. I haven't thought about it too much. Q. How much fun has it been for you to see Brian Baker, the whole thing? SAM QUERREY: It's been awesome. We kinda started ‑‑I played him in Sarasota a couple months ago. That was kind of the first I saw him coming back. Hung out, talked a little bit. Saw him in Nice and we were hitting. He's a great guy. I mean, I was just so happy for him. It's been a miserable five or six years for him, so he deserves something good. He's just on a great roll right now. Seems like he's playing unbelievable. I hope he can just keep winning and keep climbing up the rankings. Q. The other day Mardy was talking about how if he had undergone what Andy did here, the heartbreak of the defeat against Federer a couple of years ago in the final, it would have been tough to come back. What do you make of Andy staying power in his returns to Wimbledon? SAM QUERREY: I think Andy just loves tennis and he still believes he can win a Wimbledon title. As long as he believes that, I think he'll keep coming back. You know, if anyone out there deserves a Wimbledon title it's him losing three finals and that one close one. I think, you know, he won last week in Eastbourne. I think he still believes he can win a title, and a lot of times that's half the battle. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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