Tennis: Sam grateful for Open card

Sam Querrey boasts a big serve. Photo / Getty Images

There are two sides to American Sam Querrey. One is the 1.98m (6 feet 6 inches) intimidating server who does a passable imitation of Goliath as he approaches the net.

Just ask his countryman Bradley Klahn. In the first round of the 2010 US Open, Klahn had to excuse himself from court after taking a furry bullet in the groin from Querrey's racquet at a range of three metres.

The other side is the perennial fun-loving freshman. At 21, Querrey made the 2009 Heineken Open final in his second (and most recent) attempt at Auckland, losing to Juan Martin del Potro. Later he could be found on the back courts, knocking back a few beers and joining a spontaneous tennis ball-throwing competition with the locals.

Querrey can also be a bit of a dag on tour as witnessed in a ping-pong contest on Youtube with French player Gael Monfils or hanging out with his old schoolmates known as the Samurai men. They used to follow him on tour and would pop up in crowds boasting five bare chests each engraved with a black capital letter spelling out "SAMMY".

Sadly, Querrey says, those days are over: "Most of them are in college or have graduated into real jobs, so they don't travel with me much any more. It was fun for a year or two."

Ranked 93 in the world, Querrey has secured a controversial wildcard to the tournament, getting it at the expense of a New Zealand player.

However, Querrey has been ranked as high as 17 in the world but suffered a dreadful run of injuries. In 2009, he impaled his arm on a glass table in Bangkok and his season was curtailed by elbow surgery last year.

He's grateful for the wildcard: "I have to thank [tournament boss] Richard [Palmer]. My elbow is 100 per cent - it's been good since October."

Querrey has taken inspiration from Novak Djokovic's resurgent 2011: "He has been incredible; he also won the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament [which included the likes of Roger Federer] on New Year's Eve. Seeing a guy flick the switch like that [winning three grand slam events in 2011] gives you confidence after I got hurt. I'd like to mimic that, even if it's not on the same grand stage.

"I want to keep playing an aggressive game using a big serve and going for it on returns. It's not so much a particular shot I'm working on but a style of play."

As Querrey warms up for the Australian Open, he is among a group of American players - including Heineken Open entrants Donald Young and Ryan Harrison - who are trying to break the country's grand slam drought.

Andy Roddick was the last American champion, winning the US Open in 2003.

Australian Roy Emerson, a 12-time former grand slam singles champion during the last vestiges of amateurism in the 1960s, has observed Querrey over the years from his home in Newport Beach, California.

The 75-year-old says Querrey and his countrymen might struggle to win a grand slam in the next five years.

"Querrey has a good serve and all-round game but he's got to learn to put points together better and not necessarily hit the cover off the ball. He has to 'grub' a little bit by keeping the ball in play, and mixing it up.

"But America's battling at the moment, so is Australia. Other players might be hungrier because the top three [Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer] are so dominant and even the likes of Andy Murray might have one slam in him."