Querry's quantum leap into tennis' upper class

WASHINGTON - Sam Querrey's quantum leap in the world tennis rankings hardly has been a quotidian quest, given the quasi-tragic accident that might had ended his career at 21 and Querrey's quirky nonchalance in carrying on.

The frightening incident occurred late last September after a practice session at Bangkok's stop on the pro tour. Querrey was sitting on a glass table in the locker room to finish dressing when the table gave way under his 6-6, 200-pound body.

A shard of glass sliced his right (racket) arm, barely missing a nerve and requiring emergency surgery that included four layers of stitches. A month later, Querrey's quaint follow-up was to dress for Halloween as the victim of a shark attack.

After his match in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic Wednesday night, Querrey displayed the inside of his right arm, a three-inch scar barely visible. "They had to stitch a muscle back up," he said, "and there's a little square under my wrist that's numb; I don't have any feeling there. But that doesn't affect my tennis at all."

That he was quickly dispatched from the U.S. Open tune-up event here, by 41st-ranked Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, hardly puts a dent in his building momentum, Querrey insisted. He had just flown cross-country from winning the Los Angeles tournament, a bit fatigued, and had no time to adjust to D.C.'s suffocating heat and humidity.

With four 2010 titles (Memphis, Belgrade, London's Queens Club and L.A.) already on his resume, he intends to get right back in the queue - he's committed to play Toronto, Cincinnati and New Haven before the Open - to produce the kind of quality that he hopes will soon put him "in the conversation" to win major tournaments.

Among other American men, only Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish have won even two tournaments this year. "Sam's won six tournaments and he's only 22 years old," Fish marveled. "He's won four this year, and won on every surface. That's a career for most people."

Roddick, the top-ranked U.S. man for most of a decade, kidded that his "elder statesman" status among American players "stopped when Sam beat me ."

Raised in Southern California, Querrey turned down a tennis scholarship to USC in 2006 to turn pro - the opposite tack from his father, who chose college baseball despite being drafted by the NFL's Detroit Lions - and broke into the rankings' top 100 that year. He has stayed in the top 30 since March 2009, currently at No. 20.

Against Britain's Andy Murray, himself in the conversation to win a major for four years now, Querrey's come-from-behind win in the L.A. final gave him another significant scalp. "It's great to beat Murray, No. 5 in the world," Querrey said. "But that was a 250 . I need to perform well at the bigger tournaments - Toronto, Cincinnati. That's where the Top 10 guys all do well.

"It's just, mentally, believing you can beat those guys."

That's the Querrey quota.