Retiring American Sam Querrey recalls first interaction with Roger Federer

Sam Querrey recalled a story from 2007 when Roger Federer welcomed him to the ATP tour.

The American has called it a day on his tennis career following his opening-round exit at the US Open. Querrey lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8), 6-3 to Ilya Ivashka in the final singles match of his career.

The 34-year-old has retired with ten ATP titles to his name. His best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2017, defeating the then-reigning champion Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.

Speaking about his career, Querrey recalled an incident during his early years as a professional at the 2007 Australian Open. The American said that Federer entered the elevator at the hotel he was staying at and welcomed him to the tour while introducing himself.

“I remember he introduced himself to me. He said, ‘Hey Sam, Roger, welcome to the Tour’, something along those lines. ‘It’s good to see you here’,” Querrey said. “It was pretty cool for a guy like that to come up to a new player like myself.”

Federer and Querrey went on to lock horns on four occasions, with the Swiss winning each of those meetings. Their first encounter came in the second round of the 2007 Miami Masters, where the former World No. 1 triumphed 6-4, 6-3.

The Swiss then beat Querrey 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round of the 2008 French Open before defeating him 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of Wimbledon in 2015.

Their final encounter came at the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup in 2017, with Federer beating the American 6-4, 6-2.

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Roger Federer will return to action at 2022 Laver Cup

Roger Federer will make his comeback at the Laver Cup

Roger Federer will return to action at the Laver Cup this year, which will start on September 23. This will be the Swiss' first appearance at a tennis tournament since last year's Wimbledon, where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Hubert Hurkacz.

Federer will be a part of a star-studded Team Europe, which will also have Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud will also be in the team, which will be captained by Bjorn Borg.

The 41-year-old will later compete at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, which will also feature Carlos Alcaraz. It will be interesting to see how he fares at the ATP 500 tournament.