Sam Querrey’s tennis career took a monumental step in the right direction Sunday afternoon, when the 23-year-old American defeated world No. 4 Andy Murray in comeback fashion, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to take home the singles title of the Farmers Classic.
The match between Querrey and Murray was just the fifth time in tournament history that the No. 1 and No. 2 faced off for the championship, and it was only the second time in history that the No. 2 seed came out victorious.
“He’s playing well,” Murray said of Querrey after the match. “He’s got a big game. He’s become more consistent the last year or so, and he’s a challenging guy to play against.”
But Querrey winning the Farmers Classic for the second year in a row wasn’t even the most impressive aspect of the young American’s victory.
Querrey and Murray had matched up on four separate occasions, with the American never having taken a set off of the Brit.
“Andy has beaten me four of five times … so I definitely had my doubts going in,” Querrey said after the match. “I knew it was going to be tough.”
In addition, Murray became the highest-ranked player that Querrey has ever defeated. Before Sunday, his most impressive win was against Andy Roddick in 2009, when Roddick was ranked No. 5 in the world.
“It’s always great to beat a top 10 guy,” Querrey said. “I think that’s the highest rank I’ve ever beat. And this is the first time I actually got to try to defend a title. … There was maybe a little extra pressure, so I’m pretty proud of myself.”
Sunday’s final started off on a positive note for both players, and it looked as if the first set would go to a tiebreak.
But with the score tied 5-5, Murray held serve to go up 6-5, and thanks to some costly mental errors on his opponent’s part, Murray broke the American to win the first set.
Querrey took the lead in the second set after an early break of Murray, but the latter was able to break back later in the set. And with a 5-4 lead in the second set, Murray earned himself a match point at 30-40. In turn, Querrey fought off the match point, eventually sending the second to a tiebreak.
And in the tiebreak, Querrey, who was on the brink of defeat minutes before, regained the momentum and cruised to a 7-2 victory, evening the match at a set apiece.
In the third set, Querrey broke Murray to go up 4-2, then held serve to take a 5-2 advantage. Murray was unable to regain the break, and Querrey went on to win the set, 6-3.
“The second and third sets I played great,” Querrey said. “I thought I hit some great forehands and served well when I needed. That was some of the best tennis I’ve played.”
After the match, the normally reserved Murray joked with the media and maintained that, despite his finals loss, the week proved to be a positive for his preparation for the U.S. Open.
“It was a very good week,” he said. “I’m obviously disappointed to lose today. I have to take the circumstances into consideration. I’m happy to get into the final, and I had chances to win obviously today, but it was a good week.”
Those circumstances that Murray referred to deal mainly with his lack of court action. The Farmers Classic was his first tournament appearance since he lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon in early July.
One factor that was thought to have played a big part in Sunday’s match was the crowd, given that Querrey is a California native. But even though a majority of the crowd was rooting for the defending champion, Murray also received a large amount of support from fans.
“It was good support today,” Murray said. “It was a good atmosphere, the best crowd of the week. I think it was a pretty entertaining match. (The crowd) got behind both of us and really enjoyed it.”
Querrey is currently ranked No. 20 in the world, but with the win, the American’s ranking is expected to jump a few spots, making him the second-highest-ranked American behind Roddick.