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WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

July 28, 2008

Sam Querrey

CINCINNATI, OHIO

S. QUERREY/P. Mathieu
6-4, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Got to be happy with that result?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, he's a great player. I was listening to his accomplishments when we were warming up. Four titles, and I think he's been ranked -- I don't know what the highest is, but I think it's in the low teens. Happy to get by that.

Q. Progress report for the summer, how are you feeling?
SAM QUERREY: Feeling good. Hopefully I can do well here, and then I've got the Olympics and the US Open. Hopefully at the US Open I can make better run than I did last year. Went out first round, so it would be nice to win at least one match there, but hopefully two, three, or four.

Q. You've won a title yourself this year. Has that changed your outlook on things, or your perspective?
SAM QUERREY: A little bit. They kind of give you the belief that you can win the titles and the tournaments. You know, and confidence is a big part of playing out here.

Q. You mentioned that you were listening to his accomplishments warming up. Do you think of yourself on those kind of terms now, too?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty cool thing to say you've won an ATP tournament. You know, not many people have done that, so it's nice.
Hopefully I can have more to come in the future.

Q. Do you sense yourself building toward anything? Have you gotten stronger?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I've definitely gotten stronger, and I think my net play, although I don't come to the net that often, is getting much better.
But I know in Indianapolis I was coming to the net a little more and winning the majority of the points at the net. I'm still trying to work on that. I also really want to work on my return, kind of push it in there a little bit.
I'm going to go out here a little later and hit 50 returns as hard as I can pretty much. I gotta start stepping up and doing that a little more.

Q. This was your first career meeting against Mathieu. How do you go about preparing?
SAM QUERREY: You pretty much know how every guy plays because it's the same group at every tournament. I know he's got a great backhand. If you're gonna put some pressure on him you got to do it to the forehand side.
But I'll just kind of sit down with my coach. You don't want to do anything that goes too far outside of my strengths, so I kind of want to -- most of the time I'll just play my strengths and my serve and try to work on the ball with my forehand.
If he's beating me like that, then you have to kind of reevaluate and say, Okay, maybe hit every ball to his backhand or maybe serve and volley or something.
You kind of, for the most part, know how every guy plays. I kind of knew -- I don't want to go backhand to backhand with him all day because I'm probably gonna lose that, so I was trying to go forehand to forehand if I could.

Q. You made a lot of progress in the last year. You had a wild card here last year. You lost a tough three-setter to James Blake. Your title win this year. You got on the quarters in Monte-Carlo. Just kind of comment in terms of last year to this year. Do you have a difference in mindset?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, last year was still kind of the new guy a little bit and you're kind of still getting wild cards into some events. You know, it was just really exciting to get that.
I didn't think of myself as like an threat really to win ATP tournaments. But this year I've gone far in a couple Masters Series events and won Vegas, so now I just have confidence. I feel like more and more that I kind of belong with the top group of players.

Q. You made a point early on in your career of not putting pressure on yourself. Is that still your attitude about that, being able to roll with the losses and not feeling like you got to go out there and set benchmarks or anything? Has your thinking about that changed at all?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, no, it's still pretty much the same. Earlier in the year I was kind of -- the stretch with -- especially in Memphis. I was kind of -- I don't know if not enjoying it, but I was playing not to lose rather than to kind of go out there to play to win.
Literally the next week in Vegas I just went out there and said, I'm gonna take chances. I'm gonna run around second serves and hit them hard as I can. I'm going to just try to have fun. That's the only purpose of playing every match. I won the tournament, so I'm trying to be more like that.
Yeah, I mean, I don't really feel pressure. I'm just kind of going out there and doing whatever.

Q. Describe what it was like to work with Gill.
SAM QUERREY: It was great. I'm still somewhat working with him when I'm home. I was excited when adidas hired him, and I've been over there I think three times. It's great. He's got a great gym. I think it's really beneficial.

Q. What sort of results have you noticed in that regard?
SAM QUERREY: I definitely got a lot stronger in my upper body. I don't know if you guys can tell. I'll wear a tight shirt in my next match. It might not look like it, but it's there.
I mean, just all around. You know, we'll work on strength from the feet all the way up to the shoulders and back. I feel like ever thing is a little bit stronger.

Q. Even though it was early the crowd was clearly behind you because you're American. Just wondering how much can you hear that even in the early rounds, and how much does that affect your play?
SAM QUERREY: It makes a big difference. It's much easier when the crowd is behind you. I know outside of the United States I've only -- I've never won two consecutive matches. It's nice when the crowd is behind you and you know you've got the majority of the stadium kind of rooting for you. It makes a big difference for me.

Q. Did you say there you had won more than two match consecutive matches outside of the US?
SAM QUERREY: No, Australia is the only place. I forgot about that.
THE MODERATOR: And Monte-Carlo.
SAM QUERREY: And Monte-Carlo, too. Ignore what I said.

Q. Do you have any specific rankings goals for the end of the year?
SAM QUERREY: I mean, I wanted to at least being ranked in the 30s. That would be a realistic, you know, good goal. If I was anything higher than that it would just be a bonus. It would be nice to be seeded at the Australian Open next year.

Q. What do the Olympics mean to you?
SAM QUERREY: I'm excited to go. It's an honor to make the team and play for your country. It's gonna be -- or I hope it's going to be a great event. Should be really fun.

Q. Except for the travel there.
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, but not too bad, I guess. I come from California.

Q. Talk a little bit about working with Gill and what his approach is and the way he looks at things? I mean, he has such Yoda-like manner and aura about him.
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, he's very private. You can't get anything out of him really. But we always work out in the gym at his house. It's just always about getting stronger and making yourself more powerful and being an athlete. Those are his kind of main three things.
Whenever you're doing, you know -- if you're doing one rep of something, it's a serious rep with a purpose behind it. He's very -- you know, we'll take some -- you're always eating toast or bananas while you're working out. It's just very specific, and there's a purpose behind every exercise.

Q. Were you working on the machines he designed.
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, he actually welds those machines at his house.

Q. Were you at the Agassi Training Center? When you say his house, you're talking about the freestanding training center, right?
SAM QUERREY: In his backyard, yeah.

Q. Did you see Andre's trophies and Olympic medals?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, he's got them all up there. All the Grand Slams and then I think the Olympics. The trophies are so many smaller than I thought. French Open trophy is like that big. It's kind of disappointing.

Q. So you're saying they're a lot smaller now?
SAM QUERREY: I don't know what they're like now. I don't know if you actually keep the trophy that you get.

Q. You get a replica.
SAM QUERREY: But it's like a replica scaled down to one tenth of the size. Itty bitty. The US Open one is like a nice big one. If you're going to win one, you know...

Q. Is he the only guy you're working with on strength training and stuff?
SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, sometimes when I'm home in southern California I'll work with Mary Joe who works for the USTA down at the Carson Center, and sometimes just do my own thing.

End of FastScripts

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