Has Sam Querrey Retired? Here's The Story
Since turning pro in 2006, Querrey has cemented himself as a player-to-watch in the worldwide competition of tennis, even reaching an estimated net worth of a whopping $12 million.
Sam Querrey has not retired from the sport of tennis and is still playing. The term “retire” is also used in tennis when a player is forced to end the game due to injury, or some other factor. Querrey retired from a 2018 match against Andreas Seppi but has not retired from the whole sport of tennis.
Continue reading as we explore the life of Sam Querrey, how he became a pro and his most notable career moments.
No Slowing Down
Following his first-ever ATP title win in 2008, Querrey has won 9 other titles, plus one title in doubles, over the course of his career.
He defeated Australian Carsten Ball at the Los Angeles Open in 2009, 2010 and 2012, won the Memphis Open in 2010, the Serbian Open and Queen’s Club Championships in 2010, the Delray Beach Open in 2016, and two contests in Mexico in 2017.
2018 was one of his best years, as he obtained his highest ranking as No. 11 in the world. At the US Open, though, he did retire from a match against Andreas Seppi.
In 2020, he announced his excitement to play at the Australian Open:
Rewinding it Back to Querrey’s Beginnings
Born in San Francisco in 1987 on the 7th of October, Querrey went to Thousand Oaks High School and graduated in 2006 – the same year that he became a professional tennis player.
Before he turned pro, though, he was offered a scholarship from the University of Southern California. He turned this down in order to pursue his dreams of becoming a tennis master.
In terms of getting into the sport in the first place, it was his father, Mike Querrey, that actually suggested the sport.
Mike made the recommendation because he regretted his own decision to attend the University of Arizona, instead of following his true aspiration, which was to take up the offer to play baseball for the Detroit Tigers team.
In a 2006 article with the New York Times, Querrey revealed an exchange between him and his father that became a driving force behind his decision:
“My dad told me when I was signing my contract, ‘Don’t do what I did.’ He told me to take the shot while it’s there and do your best. I think he regrets not taking a chance when he had it.”
For Querrey, going pro wasn’t a decision that he immediately jumped onto, unlike many other aspiring tennis players. He once remarked that “it was one of the toughest decisions of my life. […] I’d play a match and want to go pro. I’d lose and want to go to college.”
Nonetheless, he stuck with his decision and embarked on a tennis career in the big leagues.
In the early days of his career, some friends from Thousand Oaks High School would attend his matches. They even started a fan base called “The Samurai Club”, which was a nickname coined from his first name.
The fan club consisted of members that would cheer and shout while shirtless, also wearing headbands that resembled those worn by real Samurais. Their bare chests would also show their support for the player, adorned with “Sam” or “Samurai” written out.
It didn’t take long for others to lovingly call Querrey “Samurai Sam”.
Early Career
Querrey certainly didn’t enter the tennis scene quietly, as he made his mark pretty quickly in the first couple of years. In the first year, he won several first-round matches, and even got a wildcard and beat Phillip Kohlschreiber in straight sets.
In 2007, he shocked with an incredible feat of achieving 10 consecutive aces against James Blake at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.
This achievement is said to be an Open Era record for the most consecutive serves in one go – whether the Open Era declares it a record or not, it’s still a huge accomplishment that will be remembered for many years to come.
2008 arrived, and Querrey was showing no signs of slowing down.
He got to the third round of the Australian Open, the fourth round at the US Open, and won his first-ever ATP level contest. This happened at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas against Kevin Anderson from South Africa.
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