Sam Querrey played out of his skin in an incredible Wimbledon tie on Monday, beating top seed and defending champion Andy Murray 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 to reach his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final.
The 24th-seeded American, who reached the quarter-finals in 2016, was broken early in the opener and never recovered as Murray clinched the set with less than half-an-hour on the clock.
The second set began with Querrey matching Murray but was broken in the seventh game only to recover to break the home favourite on the next game itself. Crucially, the 29-year-old Las Vegas native managed to hold his serve and broke Murray for the second time in the tie to clinch the second set.
Murray reasoned by breaking the American in the opening game of the third set but was unable to build on his start as the big-serving Querrey came back strongly in the 10th game to level proceedings.
The set went to a tie-break, with neither player able to break the other again, but it was almost a procession for Murray as the double Wimbledon champion raced into 6-1 lead. Querrey had missed an inviting smash at a crucial juncture in the tie-break and despite a valiant fightback, Murray hung on to take a 2-1 set lead in the match.
Murray, who led Querrey 7-1 in their head-to-head, then started to struggle with what seemed to be a hip injury and despite holding his serve in the opening game of the fourth set, could not do much after that.
Querrey reeled off an astonishing six games in a row to clinch the set and force the match into a deciding fifth set and Murray’s body language suggested the Scot was down in the dumps and his American opponent was not in the mood to let go.
The 6'6 American broke Murray early in the final set, racing into a 3-0 lead before the World No.1 could manage to get on the scoreboard.
And as the Scot crumbled, Querrey reeled off three games in a row to script a stunning upset in less than three hours.
Querrey’s reward for his epic triumph is a semi-final date with the winner of the Marin Cilic-Giles Muller tie. But what makes his victory even more remarkable is the fact that Monday’s match was the third one in a row that had the American winning in five sets.
Yes, you read that right. Three five-set clashes back-to-back and the ‘Giant giant-killer’ showed no signs of fatigue in an epic display of tennis at Centre Court.