Sam Querrey beats seeded opponent in first round of the 2020 Australian Open

Sam Querrey of San Francisco, CA might be unseeded at the 2020 Australian Open, but on Monday delivered a significant upset win in the first round from Melbourne. Querrey, who is ranked 45th in the world, beat 25th ranked Borna Coric of Croatia 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets.

Querrey won all of the major categories in delivering the victory in a period of one hour and 44 minutes. He had 18 aces, compared to Coric’s seven. Querrey only had one double fault, compared to Coric’s four. Querrey also had 36 winners and 19 unforced errors compared to Coric’s 20 winners and 30 unforced errors.

It should not be a huge surprise that Querrey is off to round two. He has reached the third round at the Australian Open five times and in 2017 reached the semifinals of Wimbledon.

Querrey was the only American man to win on the first day of the year’s first major. On Tuesday, five other American men were victorious. It wasn’t surprising that 19th ranked John Isner of Greensboro, NC beat Thiago Monteiro of Brazil in four tiebreaks, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6. Isner is known for his serve and not being a good returner.

Another seeded American man advanced as 29th ranked Taylor Fritz of San Diego, CA beat Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The other American men off to round two are Tommy Paul of Greenville, NC, who beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, Michael Mmoh of Bradenton, FL, who beat Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, and Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, TN, who beat Marco Trungelliti of Argentina 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.

Also on Tuesday, five more American women advanced to round two. Tenth ranked Madison Keys of Rock Island, IL beat Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-1. Eighteenth ranked Alison Riske of Pittsburgh, PA beat Yafan Wang of China 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. Twenty-sixth ranked Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, FL beat Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Two unseeded American women also advanced as Lauren Davis of Gates Mills, OH beat Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-4, 6-2 and Cici Bellis of San Francisco, CA beat Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-0, 6-2.