It’s true. Tennis fans are generally obsessed about the best. People care about Federer and Nadal, and then maybe Djokovic and Murray. Andy Roddick and James Blake are considered failures for failing to contend for Slams. This is unfair, we all know. Roddick and Blake’s careers are really just outside of stardom, especially Roddick, who has made four Grand Slam finals, winning one, and managed a top ten ranking for most of his career.
Consider a player like Fabrice Santoro. Few tennis fans know who he is. Yet, here’s a player that stayed in the top 100 for most of his 20 year career. Santoro’s career has to be considered something of a success based on longevity, much like Arnaud Clement, Jonas Bjorkman, and others who have stayed on the tour for numerous years, yet have often failed to break through at the very top.
By all accounts, Sam Querrey ought to be considered a success. He’s won a tournament already. He’s made two finals. He’s in the top 100. It’s certainly better than Donald Young who has neither won a title, nor ever been in the final.
If you think that’s insignificant, think about the last great British hope, Tim Henman. How many titles do you think he’s won? 20? 30? He’s won 11. And he made 17 additional finals beyond that. This is a very solid career. Certainly, he did quite well at Wimbledon, making the semifinals several times, and even one semifinal at the French Open. Henman is in the category of players hovering right around 10, who win an odd title here or there. Two titles in a year would be a great year for Henman.
The players you hear about, the ones that are ranked at the top. Those players often make a huge splash, a big upset that takes the tennis world by surprise. Whether it’s Boris Becker’s win at Wimbledon in 1985, or Mats Wilander winning the French in 1982 over Guillermo Vilas, or Andy Murray beating Roger Federer in 2006 while still not ranked in the top 10. Roger Federer himself upset Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001. The best players often make their presence known early, and beat big-name players.
To that end, Sam Querrey has come up short. This week, he played in the finals of the International Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. He was able to play in this tournament when Patrick McEnroe decided to pick Mardy Fish to play Davis Cup when Andy Roddick decided an injury would prevent him from participating in a tie against Croatia. Newport is a pretty small tournament. The big name players don’t play this tournament. This is why Fabrice Santoro, whose ranking has usually floated in the 40s, was two time defending champion.
Querrey had one solid win in this tournament, namely, his semifinal victory over Santoro who is ranked 46 and was 34 when the tournament started (since he was defending champ, he lost points and his ranking went down). Against Rajeev Ram who was ranked 181 prior to the tournament, Querrey came up short and lost in three sets. These are the kinds of tournaments Querrey should win, especially against a player ranked over 100.
Querrey gives good players a tough time, but he doesn’t win. He pushed Marin Cilic, a top 20 player to five sets at this year’s Wimbledon. But Cilic showed why he’s in the top 20, and Querrey isn’t, by winning that fifth set. Although Cilic isn’t a big name, he’s big enough. A victory over him would have been a sign of progress for Querrey.
Again, his success is more than most tennis players ever achieve. It’s certainly possible that he could improve more slowly, like Mardy Fish or James Blake. But given his results so far, it’s certainly looking like he won’t be the next Pete Sampras or even the next Todd Martin.
