Sam Querrey becomes fourth player to claim third Farmers Classic title

The 2012 edition of the professional tennis tournament that annually stops by UCLA ended Sunday with a familiar sight: Sam Querrey holding the champions trophy.

The Thousand Oaks High alum extended his run at a place that feels like home to him, becoming the fourth player to win three titles at the tournament now known as the Farmers Classic. It was a three-peat of sorts for Querrey, who won in 2009 and 2010 before getting injured and sitting out the summer of 2011.

Apart from Querrey winning, little of the event that just wrapped up its 86th year resembled the show-stopping ritual of years’ past.

Thanks to the Olympics, the field was void of high-ranking players. Arguably, its most noticeable name was Nicolas Mahut, otherwise known as the loser of the longest match in Wimbeldon history (Mahut bowed out in his first Farmers Classic match). The top seed was France’s Benoit Paire, ranked 50th in the world. He couldn’t make it past his first match, either.

Also absent was the booming voice of Wayne Bryan, father of the best doubles team of all-time and the usual master of ceremonies of the event. His sons, Bob and Mike, are currently competing for the U.S. in the Olympics.

Even Querrey’s faithful cheering section, the “Samurai,” seemed a little thinner.

That hardly mattered to Querrey, who won his first event since his last Farmers Classic triumph in 2010. That was during a summer he was ranked in the world’s top 20.

Now fully healthy and back to trusting his elbow for big serves and forehands, Querrey didn’t drop a set in four wins and breezed by finalist Ricardas Berankis in just 51 minutes, winning 6-0, 6-2.

“Even when I was ranked No. 17, I might not be ranked that now but I feel like I’m doing things better now than what I was doing then,” Querrey said. “I think if I keep it up I can go higher.”

Berankis reached his first-ever final only to fall under the weight of nerves and fatigue. The Lithuanian won three matches in the qualifying tournament to reach the main draw then ran off four more in a row.

“First thing … I asked (my coach) was how long the match was,” Berankis joked.

Regardless of the glamour of the event, this year’s Farmers Classic made an impression on the players.

“When you go to Europe, you appreciate the weather like this here,” said Xavier Malisse, who won his second straight doubles title at the Farmers Classic, this time with fellow Belgian Ruben Bemelmans.

For Berankis, getting to hear the roar of a crowd in his first final was a highlight.

“When a couple thousand people are cheering for you for this drop shot … it’s a great feeling,” Berankis said.