Despite creating a major upset, Sam Querrey remained humble in victory, stating that his win over World No. 1 Andy Murry isn’t “the NBA championships”.
“I mean, it's not like tennis is the most popular sport in America. This isn't the NBA championships or anything.”
Querrey, who defeated Andy Murray 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinal, is the first American man to make it to Wimbledon semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The 29-year-old said, “American tennis isn't that bad. I know it kind of gets a bad rep. That's just 'cause guys don't win majors. We've got four guys in the top 30, a great group of young guys.”
“To be in the semis is great. Hopefully myself and the other guys up there can have more weeks like this. Hopefully, you know, American tennis will get a little boost from this maybe, and other guys will gain some confidence, and we can just have more and more guys go deeper in slams.”
Last year, Querrey knocked out then World No. 1, Novak Djokovic, in the third round. With Djokovic retiring in his quarterfinal and Querrey knocking out Murray, Roger Federer is the only player from top-four to enter the semifinals.
Speaking on the possibility of holding the trophy, Querrey said, “I'm going to focus on the semifinal match. Marin is ranked, like, 5. He's right outside of the big four. That's going to be a tough one. We'll see.”
Speaking about his emotions being similar to last year, Querrey said, “Yeah, it was similar. I mean, I was probably a little more fired up today, especially in the fourth and fifth sets. You know, there's a little more on the line. It was similar to last year, honestly. But this year just feels a little better than last year.”
This will be the American’s first-ever semifinal despite playing his 42nd Grand Slam tournament. On being asked if he ever doubted reaching such a stage, the big-hitting American said, “I mean, last year definitely kind of gave me a new boost that I could do it. But there have been times in my career where I definitely thought, if I had to bet, am I going to make a semi, I probably would have gone no. Now that I made the quarters last year, and semis here, I'm feeling confident. I think I can go even a little further.”
“Really proud. It's an exciting moment. Not many people get to play tennis professionally, let alone play at Wimbledon, play on Centre Court, play against Andy Murray. It's something that few people get to do, so it's really special.”
He added, “This is the first time I've been in the situation. I'm still pretty excited. I think it helps we get a day off tomorrow so you have a day to kind of relax, wind down, actually hit some tennis balls again before you go out on the stage and play the semifinal match. Just going to keep my routine what I've done the last nine or ten days, and hopefully that will work.”
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