Friday, July 1, 2016

Querrey has big lead over Djokovic; match halted

No. 28 seed Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, leads
Novak Djokovic 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the third round at Wimble-
don. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman  
   Sam Querrey is on the verge of a monumental upset.
   The San Francisco native, whose 28th seeding matches his age, led top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-6 (6), 6-1 today when their third-round match at Wimbledon was suspended by rain.
   "The first set was the best I've ever seen Sam play," said ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert, a resident of San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay Area and the former coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray. "Djokovic won only four points on his return."
   Djokovic, the first man to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time since Rod Laver in 1969, looked lethargic in the second set.
   "The guy's human -- hello," said ESPN commentator and International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert. "Maybe he just had a bad day."
   When the match resumes on Saturday at 4 a.m.PDT (ESPN), Djokovic will seek his 31st straight Grand Slam victory and continue his pursuit of the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Laver's in 1969.
   "People don't understand the pressure these players are under," Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams' coach, said on ESPN. "Serena went through the same thing (last year). Anything less than perfect is unacceptable."
   The suspension gives the 29-year-old Serb a chance to regroup and Querrey a night to think about his commanding lead and get nervous.
   Djokovic overcame a two-sets-to-none deficit against 14th-seeded Kevin Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) South African, in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year and went on to win his second straight crown at the All England Club and third overall.
   Querrey, 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), also overcame a two-sets-to-none deficit against Lukas Rosol, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Czech, in the first round of this year's tournament.
   Rosol stunned two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal in the second round of the 2012 tournament.
   Djokovic is 8-1 against Querrey. This is their first meeting on grass and first anywhere since Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the 2014 U.S. Open.
   Querrey, who lives in Santa Monica in the Los Angeles area, is ranked 41st after reaching a career-high 17th in 2011. Entering Wimbledon, he was 0-2 in Grand Slam tournaments this year and 1-6 in his last six Slams.
   In late 2014, Querrey swept the singles titles in Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon on the three-week Challenger swing through Northern California.

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