It was an erratic performance by the fourth seed, Sam Querrey, as he played his first match at Los Cabos Open. The first match of the day at the Pegaso Stadium saw the first upset of the tournament as Santiago Giraldo played amazing tennis to defeat Sam Querrey in straight sets. After losing his early lead Querrey went on to lose the tiebreak. In the second set, the Colombian started taking advantage of all the mistakes the American was hitting, trying to recover the early break. In just 73 minutes, Giraldo brought the first surprise of the tournament defeating Querrey 7-6(1), 6-3.
Querrey starts strong but Giraldo comes back from a break down to take the opening set
From the start, it seemed that the American was struggling as he had to save break points three times before managing to keep his serve. For Giraldo, it wasn’t any easier either as even though he didn’t face any break point, he had to get through a tough first game of serve to level things up at 1-1. However, Querrey showed signs of improvement as he held his serve to love. Then Giraldo opened the game with an ace and after three unforced errors from Querrey he held to keep things at 2-2. Both players kept playing their best as they exchanged holds. An amazing game on serve from the American put pressure on the Colombian who started the next game with a double fault. Another double fault and some unforced errors later gave Querrey the first break of the match to lead 5-3 and was in the perfect position to serve for the first set.
But Giraldo wasn’t done yet as that break didn’t seem to affect his confidence, he quickly ran away with a 0-30 lead on Querrey’s serve. The American then pulled out a great point as he managed to reach a drop shot to eventually win the point after Giraldo hit the ball to the net. A backhand unforced error gave Giraldo the chance to break back and it happened after the American made yet another mistake. Now it was time for the Colombian to come back and he did in the best form, with his serve; an ace putting this even at 5-5. After an exchange of holds from there, a first set tiebreak was required to decide the winner of a tightly contested opening set.
The tiebreak started with a forehand unforced error from Querrey who gave the early lead to Giraldo, who consolidated both servic points thanks to more unforced errors from the fourth seed. The first point for the American was won after he hit his trademark, an ace. But the Colombian was not giving anything away as he claimed a second mini-break, before holding both service points in impressive style. Facing five set points, Querrey started to rush the points which caused him to lose the first set after hitting a double fault.
Querrey vanishes as Giraldo confidence increases
The second set started with both players holding their serves, however, it was the Colombian who looked in a better position, especially after dominating that tiebreak in the first set and he proved that after holding to love. The mistakes from the American only increased as he soon saw himself in a position to desperately save three break points. An amazing forehand winner helped him save the first of them, but he was unable to do the same with the others as he gifted the break. Now leading 3-1, Giraldo’s confidence was at the highest point. The American was throwing powerful shots but every shot run down by the Colombian, who moved Querrey all around the court pushing him for the mistake. With an ace, Giraldo consolidated the break to be up 4-1.
The American’s problems continued as he had to serve a tough game in which he started hitting outstanding winners, but his mistakes quickly put the game in deuce. However, Querrey’s serve saved him from facing a break point and closed the game with a drop shot that was impossible for Giraldo to reach, but still, he was down 2-4. The Colombian didn’t seem to struggle with his serve as without complications, he put himself one game away from the quarterfinals. In his attempt to make a comeback, Querrey relied on his biggest weapon, his serve, as he hit two aces and two great serves to shorten the gap to 3-5. While serving for the match, Giraldo was stunned by a forehand winner from the American but that didn’t make faze him as he comfortably got himself two match points. Querrey managed to save one, but after another unforced error from the 28-year-old American, the match was over; Santiago Giraldo completing the upset and defeating fourth seed Sam Querrey in second round of Los Cabos Open.
Next for Santiago Giraldo
In the quarterfinals, Santiago Giraldo will have to face Pablo Carreno Busta who in the first round defeated the sixth seed Jeremy Chardy in straight sets. In the second round, he defeated Austin Krajicek of the United States also in straight sets. This will be the first meeting between Carreno and Giraldo, with a spot in the semifinals on the line.