Juan Ignacio Chela upset Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the US Men's Clay Court Championships title.
Chela woke up in the second set to leave Querrey empty handed. The Argentina sealed the victory when Querrey belted a service return over the line.
Querrey hit 19 winners to just two for Chela in the opening set.
“Right now I feel wonderful. No words.”
With this win, Chela earned $79,900 in prize money and 250 ATP Rankings points, which will push the Argentine up approximately 30 spots to around No. 50 when the new rankings are released Monday.
“I’ve always said that as long as I’m enjoying the competition and I’m getting this adrenaline from the matches, I’m going to keep playing as long as I’m happy and especially after this win.”
“I grew up playing on clay courts so I’m used to staying in it,” said Chela. “It does get very difficult to be aggressive all the time on clay. Even Federer sometimes has struggles with it. However, I think that that was the key here. I took my chances to be aggressive.”
“I grew up playing on clay courts so I’m used to staying in it,” said Chela. “It does get very difficult to be aggressive all the time on clay. Even Federer sometimes has struggles with it. However, I think that that was the key here. I took my chances to be aggressive.”
Querrey became the third straight American to fall in the Houston final.
“Every one of his service games in the second set was deuce, break point, ad-in, and I was just babying the ball around too often,” said Querrey. “I need to step up and take chances. You can work that in practice all you want, but it’s not the same. You’ve got to tell yourself I’m going to do it in a match.
“I’m just scared to do it. You can’t be scared to go out there and do that. If I play like this, I’m going to win the occasional [ATP World Tour] 250 and final and win some rounds at a Masters [1000], but I’m not going to get to that next level where I want to be playing like that. I need to step up and take more chances.”
Source ATP
