When the name Monte Carlo pops up, you immediately think of intense clay court battles. This 129-year-old ATP 1000 Masters tennis event has witnessed many champions, with Rafael Nadal leading the list, having won 11 titles. But it has also returned some of the legends of the sport empty-handed. The Swiss Maestro Roger Federer, who won over 100 ATP titles in his career, never lifted the Monte Carlo Masters title even once, despite reaching four finals. He lost three of them against Nadal. But hey, all this aside, have you heard of a player who never showed up on the clay court of the Country Club again after making a solid debut?

In an episode of the Nothing Major Podcast, former American pro Sam Querrey revealed an intriguing fact from his Monte Carlo days. Querrey, who turned pro in 2006, made his event debut in the event back in 2008. Back then, he entered Monte Carlo following a maiden ATP title win at the Las Vegas Open (later rebranded as Scottsdale Open).

Being a youngster, without a coach at that time, Querrey showed a very promising run at the Monte Carlo and managed to reach the quarterfinal stage before eventually losing to the Serb maestro Novak Djokovic. Now, a general assumption would be that Querrey probably would have made a return to the Country Club the next season. After all, he had a fairly decent showing in his very first campaign. But no, he didn’t return. The American played pro tennis for the next 16 years but never appeared at the Monte Carlo again. Why?

Talking to the former pros John Isner, Jack Sock, and Steve Johnson, Querrey revealed, “I was at the tournament by myself. I didn’t even go with a coach. I went last minute by myself.” Continuing further, he added, “I mean, look, I quarterfinaled that year, beat like Moya, Gasquet, Seppi, lost to Novak. It was just the one off. But sometimes when you play your best, you have zero expectations. You don’t know anyone. Like I’m playing, like, Carlos Moya first round but I’m not even thinking about it going out there and playing so free.”

“And no coach, like, you have a little more freedom to, like, take balls line when you shouldn’t or like play erratically. And yeah, just ran into Djokovic. It wasn’t like I was going to beat him, and then I knew deep down, like, ‘Oh, I’m not going back to Monte Carlo.’ That’s a place I play well I knew that was like an anomaly and probably not going to happen again.”

According to Querrey, it’s actually cool “to have the stat that I played Monte Carlo one time, pop the quarterfinal and just left the room on a high.” Isner then exclaimed, “Mic Drop.” And Querrey laughed out, saying, “Mic Drop. I just mic dropped Monte Carlo with a quarterfinal.”

While he wrapped up his Monte Carlo journey losing to Djokovic in his debut campaign, did you know Querry handed the Serbian one of his biggest career upsets later?

When Sam Querrey shocked Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon

The 2016 season was like a dream run for Novak Djokovic. He won seven ATP titles that year, including two back-to-back Slams at the Australian Open and then at the Roland Garros. When it seemed he was on track to make it three-in-a-row at Wimbledon, Sam Querrey ruined his chances.

If you look at their h2h tally, Djokovic leads by miles with a 9-2 record. Back then, he was leading 8-1 before facing Querrey for the tenth time in the third round of the Wimbledon. And guess what happened? The then 28-year-old American ousted the man – who was unbeaten at a major in past 13 months – with a score line of 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5).

It was Querrey’s second and last win against Djokovic on the ATP level. But he still cherishes it. After pulling off the unexpected result back in 2016, Querrey told the Tennis Channel, “It’s incredible. I played the break points well…came up with the big serves.”

For the uninitiated, this match became a subject of much discussion due to its length. It ran for two days due to persistent rain at the venue. On his shocking loss at the hands of Querrey, Djokovic said, “He served really well, as he usually does. That part of his game was brutal today. He made a lot of free points with his first serve. He just overpowered me.”

Well, Querrey was indeed serving rockets that day. Do you still remember that epic match?