Third time’s the charm, they say. Sam Querrey has been on a roll,but it’s not quite the kind of roll he wanted. Querrey had reached two consecutive finals prior to Los Angeles, once in Newport and once in Indianapolis.
Twice, Querrey found himself with solid opportunities, playing opponents ranked lower than himself in the final. Twice, Querrey found himself holding a runner-up trophy, once to Rajeev Ram, and once to Robby Ginepri.
For a guy ranked in the 40s, making a final here or there is a solid achievement. Despite failing to take the wins, his rankings improved.
Querrey wasn’t expected to have a third final with yet another opponent ranked lower than him in Los Angeles, especially with a tough player like Tommy Haas in the way. Although Haas is ranked higher and has a very successful summer and has been on the tour forever, it was Querrey that acted like the veteran gutting out a win in the semifinals.
So Querrey found himself in the final against a guy ranked in the 200s, Carsten Ball. Carsten who? Ball had beaten another rising player in Leonardo Mayer, an Argentine, in the semis. Ball, an Aussie, has a huge swinging lefty serve, and this had given Mayer all sorts of problems.
The two had never played each other in the pros, which should have made Ball unpredictable to Querrey. However, players don’t just jump to the pros and play. They work their way through the junior circuit. Querrey had played Ball numerous times as juniors, and so he felt less angst playing a familiar face. For his part, Ball, coached by his dad, had reached his first final, and while he wanted to win, just getting there was a big story.
Querrey took the first set against Ball, 6-4. Late in the second set, Ball secured a break after going up 0-40, with Querrey unable to hold as he did against Haas the previous night. It seemed Ball was ready to give Querrey all he could handle, and Querrey might find himself runner-up again.
However, the third set proved lopsided. Being ranked in the 200s means there are going to be mental lapses, and all of a sudden, a guy that had been challenging Querrey started getting impatient or tired, and shots that fell in were routinely going out. Querrey adjusted by trying to get a higher percentage of first serves in so Ball wouldn’t have opportunities to attack his second serve. Querrey took an early break, then secured a second, and ran away in the third set to a 6-1 finish, finally garnering a title that had so far eluded him these past few weeks. His reward? A number 26 ranking. Querrey heads off to DC to play in the Legg Mason Classic.
Meanwhile, Nikolay Davydenko continues to impress with an easy win over Juan Carlos Ferrero in Umag, Croatia, winning 6-3, 6-0.
Unseeded Thomaz Bellucci beat unseeded Andreas Beck in Gstaad, Sweden, by 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
