March 14-23 2008

Rd 4 defeated by Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7)

Rd 3 defeated Mikhail Youzny 7-5 6-1

Rd 2 defeated Sam Querrey 6-4 6-3

Preview rd 2 (bye 1st rd)

Something has to give when streaking Sam Querrey takes on veteran Lleyton Hewitt in the second round of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday. Querrey will try to blow his opponent away with huge serves and forehands, while Hewitt will merely attempt to keep too many balls in play.

Although Sam Querrey has been on the pro tour for two years now and Lleyton Hewitt has been around for a decade, this second-round battle in Indian Wells will be the first time the two players have ever squared off head-to-head. Will Querrey’s power be too much for the Aussie to contend with, or will Hewitt frustrate the up-and-coming American by getting ball after ball back in the court?

If recent form is any indication, Hewitt could have some serious trouble in this match even though he is seeded 24th, whereas Querrey is unseeded. Other than his epic win over Baghdatis in Australia that ended after 4:30 in the morning, Hewitt has really struggled this season. In Rotterdam he got caught looking ahead to a potential second-round clash with Rafael Nadal and lost to unheralded Andreas Seppi in a third-set tiebreaker. Most recently in Las Vegas, Hewitt took out slumping Marat Safin in round one before being stunned by Julien Benneteau.

The 20-year-old Querrey, on the other hand, is playing the best tennis of his life. He is coming off his first-ever ATP title, which he captured last week at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas, where Hewitt was the No. 2 seed. Querrey had to save a match point in the first round against Sebastien Grosjean, but it quickly became a lot easier. He scored impressive wins over Nicolas Kiefer, Benneteau, and Guillermo Canas before ending the run of fellow youngster Kevin Anderson in the final. Querrey surged up to No. 48 in the world rankings—just one spot away from his career-high—and he appears to be keeping up that momentum at the Pacific Life Open. He dispatched Luis Horna 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round, firing 12 aces in the process.

At 6’5’’ and owner of a massive serve and forehand, Querrey will present significant problems for his opponent. Hewitt prefers to play against guys who cannot overpower him physically, as he makes a living off requiring his adversaries stay on the court much longer than they would like. Players who have big weapons and can end points early like Querrey have an easier time of it with Hewitt. Nonetheless, it will be far from easy for the American. Querrey must serve huge, as he usually does, and most importantly he has to pay smart tennis. If he buckles under the pressure of having to hit so many balls to win points and starts going for ill-advised winners before the opportunities are really there, Hewitt could seize the edge in this showdown.

Querrey is playing with so much confidence right now that it is hard to bet against him. This match has all the makings of a grueling three-set thriller and those are the kinds of matches that Hewitt normally pulls out, but at this point in time Querrey just has too many weapons.