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BNP PARIBAS OPEN


March 8, 2014


Sam Querrey


INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

A. SEPPI/S. Querrey
4‑6, 7‑6, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Started well.  Second set he had a couple match points.  How did you see the match?
SAM QUERREY:  You only need to win one of those two match points, and I didn't.  Just turned into a dogfight after that and lost.

Q.  How are you feeling in general?
SAM QUERREY:  Pretty bummed.  Really should have won that.  Just gotta get back at it and get ready for the next one.

Q.  Tough to come out after a loss.  Just in general, decent sort of run in Australia, get some momentum, and it's kind of been patchy.  Just talk about your...
SAM QUERREY:  It hasn't been great.  Fortunately the one tournament I did best at was the Australian Open, but the other ones have been very average.
I've just got to find that rhythm, find that confidence again, and hopefully, you know, start winning some matches.

Q.  Is that the big problem, loss of confidence and then trying to regain it?  I mean, last year I know you didn't get to a final, and I just wonder if all that starts adding up over time.
SAM QUERREY:  Probably.  I mean, last year was, you know, a decent year, especially the first half.
But, you know, if I knew what the answer was, you know, I'd hopefully figure it out and change it.  I think a lot of it is confidence and lack of match wins.

Q.  What was David saying to you the last few weeks?  What's he trying to get into your head?
SAM QUERREY:  He's very positive.  Just trying to get me to stick with it and, you know, work hard on the practice court.  He's a big believer if you keep working hard that things will come over time.

Q.  Did Davis Cup, has that lingered with you at all?
SAM QUERREY:  No.  I mean, that was a bummer, but, I don't know, it's gone now.  I mean, I haven't really thought about it.

Q.  You have been a pro now eight years.  I mean, it's hard to believe in a way, I guess, for you and for us.  But do you ever say, I've had it or I'm going to keep plowing forward and keep trying to getting better?  What goes through your head?  I'm sure with athletes, we have dealt with them all, you get older and things go up and down.
SAM QUERREY:  Yeah, you know, it definitely gets a little ‑‑it gets difficult.  Sometimes tournaments maybe aren't as exciting because you have played them eight or nine times.
For the most part, I still have the motivation.  When you see some of these older guys like Tommy Haas and Federer and Ferrer, you know, doing well into their 30s, it gives me a lot of motivation that hopefully my best years are still ahead of me.

Q.  What's the plan between now and Miami?  Are you just going to take the time off?
SAM QUERREY:  I'm playing doubles here, so we'll see how that goes.  But, yeah, just practice, I guess.

Q.  When you're out there, do you feel like, you know, you're not able to sort of execute when you want to or you're not being aggressive enough?  Because obviously when you're playing aggressive you can be a really tough guy to beat.
SAM QUERREY:  Yeah, a little bit.  I just need to execute a little better on those bigger points, whether it's be more aggressive or just not missing routine balls.
You know, overall I played all right.  But, you know, the 20 biggest points of the match I played average.  Those are the ones that, you know, I need to do a little better on.

Q.  That's really the critical issue there, on big points, obviously.  I mean, it ain't any sport...
SAM QUERREY:  Yeah, I mean, you know, if you look at it, matches are ‑‑you know, even a match that's 6‑3, 6‑4, one guy might win 10 more points or the other guy or 6 more points than the other guy.
There is a fine line with number of points won and lost with both players.  So, yeah, just kind of goes to show there is a handful of points that are the important ones.

Q.  Sometimes when you're struggling, when you get to that point where you start thinking about maybe making big changes, whether it's maybe style or personnel with your team, can you talk about that process?  Have you gone through that just kind of evaluating, you know, yourself, your team, what you should do and make, how you come to your decisions?
SAM QUERREY:  I don't know.  I have to talk about it with David.  I don't know.

Q.  I thought you'd have a Clippers hat on.
SAM QUERREY:  UNLV Rebels.

Q.  You have been on the tour a number of years.  There are ups and downs.  When do you pull up the bootstraps?  You've got one more big tournament and then the clay court season, but how do you get yourself out of this feeling right now?
SAM QUERREY:  I mean, obviously right now, 20 minutes after the match, I'm not ‑‑

Q.  More generally.
SAM QUERREY:  ‑‑ eager to go, but, you know, I don't know.  Sometimes it's more work on the practice court and more matches or practice sets.  Sometimes it's taking time off and I feel better.
It's always a little different.  I think the biggest key is just, you know, I've got to find a way to grind out a couple of matches, even if it's not pretty.  You know, I think for me in the past, that's what's given me the most confidence.  Even when I don't play well, but ti grind it out 7‑5 in the third and play a little better in the next match, and then you play a great match in a quarterfinal, and, you know, then things kind of get rolling.
I think I just need to find a way to will out a match similar to the one today.

Q.  (Indiscernible.)
SAM QUERREY:  No, I feel like I'm more bummed out when I lose than when I was 20.  I think when you're younger, you're expected to lose, so who cares.
When you're older and you've kind of established yourself a little bit, you're expected to win some of those matches and a loss feels worse when you're kind of expected to win or you feel like you should win rather than when you're younger.  And if you win, great, but if you lose, no big deal.

Q.  Sam, Dwyre took a big shot at American tennis players today, and you're one of the success stories.  Why aren't there more Sam Querreys in the United States?
SAM QUERREY:  No idea.  Probably a lot of sports to choose from, you know.  That could be it.  Just have a couple years here where there is just not a lot of Americans in the top 20.  Maybe in 10 years we will have five Americans in the top 20.  I really don't know.  I don't know who that guy is, either.

Q.  Did it ever bother you, the fact people kept expecting you as one of the next great American players?  Does that weigh on you?
SAM QUERREY:  No.  I mean, I never expected that myself.  When I was 17, 18, I didn't think I was going to win a bunch of Grand Slams and be No. 1 in the world.  I just wanted to go out and have a good pro career.
But, you know, when you have a lot of success early like I did at 18, 19, people will say that.  But I just go out and do my best, and, you know, what I have accomplished so far is pretty good.  I don't think I have underachieved in it by any means.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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