NEW YORK — Sam Querrey is so young there isn’t a trace of irony when he mentions growing up rooting for Andy Roddick and James Blake, two guys still very much on tour and still in their 20s.
Querrey is so new to this whole professional tennis gig there is nothing but earnestness in his voice when he admits he’s excited his matches are on TV.
And Querrey is so young, so new and so eager that he clearly means it when he plainly explains he’s “looking forward” to facing No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open, a matchup the 20-year-old Californian set up Saturday by knocking off a seeded player for the second time in the tournament.
Heady talk for a kid who is ranked 55th, owns one career title and has lost more matches than he’s won on tour — even after upsetting No. 14 Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the third round Saturday.
Querrey added that to his victory over No. 22 Tomas Berdych in the first round. A far tougher test follows, of course: Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal, who won for the 41st time in his last 42 matches by brushing aside Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-3, 6-0.
Could Querrey beat Nadal?
“If he’s going to serve like today,” Karlovic said, “Yeah, of course. Why not?”
Querrey wasn’t the only man to author a surprise as Mardy Fish defeated the ninth-seeded Blake 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in an all-American match. Fish took the last five points to earn his first berth in the fourth round at the U.S. Open. Fish next meets French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils, who beat No. 7 David Nalbandian in straight sets.
Both Williams sisters — the only two past champions left in the field — won 6-2, 6-1 against seeded foes who, in theory at least, should have provided something more of a challenge.
No. 7 Venus Williams compiled a remarkable 32-4 edge in winners against No. 27 Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine. No. 4 Serena Williams — one of five women with a shot at moving up to No. 1 by tournament’s end — was never troubled by No. 30 Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
One Williams or the other won the tournament every year from 1999 to 2002, but neither has made so much as a final since. Less than two months after playing in the Wimbledon final, won by Venus, they could square off in the quarterfinals here.
“I’ve had over a week to think about it,” Serena said. “So right now, I’m just hoping to win my next match.”
They’re also the only two American women left. Among the men, Querrey will be joined by Fish in the fourth round, while Roddick plays his third-round match today against Andreas Seppi of Italy.
At a glance
A look at Saturday’s play at the $20.657 million U.S. Open tennis championships:
Weather: Mostly cloudy. High 83.
Attendance: Day: 37,380. Night: 23,763. Total: 61,143.
Men’s seeded winners: No. 1 Rafael Nadal, No. 6 Andy Murray, No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka, No. 17 Juan Martin del Potro and No. 32 Gael Monfils.
Men’s seeded losers: No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 7 David Nalbandian, No. 9 James Blake, No. 14 Ivo Karlovic and No. 16 Gilles Simon.
Women’s seeded winners: No. 4 Serena Williams, No. 6 Dinara Safina, No. 7 Venus Williams, No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 16 Flavia Pennetta, and No. 32 Amelie Mauresmo.
Women’s seeded losers: No. 17 Alize Cornet, No. 18 Dominika Cibulkova, No. 19 Nadia Petrova, No. 27 Alona Bondarenko and No. 30 Ai Sugiyama.
Top players on court today: Men: No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 28 Radek Stepanek, No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 30 Marin Cilic, No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko vs. No. 26 Dmitry Tursunov, No. 8 Andy Roddick vs. No. 31 Andreas Seppi. Women: No. 2 Jelena Jankovic vs. No. 21 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 5 Elena Dementieva vs. Li Na, No. 12 Marion Bartoli vs. No. 29 Sybille Bammer, No. 15 Patty Schnyder vs. No. 28 Katarina Srebotnik.
Stat of the day: Kei Nishikori is the first Japanese man to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open in the Open era.
Sunday on TV: CBS, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (live); USA, 5-9 p.m. (live).
On this date: Aug. 31, 1977: John McEnroe played his first U.S. Open match, a straight-sets win over Eliot Teltscher, and received his first code of conduct penalty for “mumbling under my breath, and she (chair umpire Patty Ungersol) assumed I said something.”
