I’ve been sad to see the absence of Sam Querrey’s cheering squad, The Samurai, this year and I was beginning to wonder if the group had disbanded. This afternoon, there is most definitely a loud cheering squad for Querrey, which presumably consists of former Samurai members, but no body-painters, no Samurai.
I emailed one of the members who I interviewed a couple years ago, and he said that each member is getting a little bit older, which means fewer matches, less body paint.
“The fact of the matter is that we are all growing up, and have busy schedules, whether we have real jobs, or are moving on to law school, like myself,” wrote Dan Farrugia in an email. “When one or two of us are in attendance, we don’t paint up, we just watch like normal fans. That is the case right now.”
But! If Querrey advances today, there’s a chance that Querrey’s potential fourth round match against Andy Murray–which is all but guaranteed a placement at Ashe–would mean a possible return of The Samurai.
“The further Sam gets, the more likely that the Samurai will be spotted,” he wrote. “If he wins [today], it would be difficult for some of us to stay away from a potential match-up with Murray. I personally cannot get away from law school until the quarterfinals at the earliest, but there is a chance The Samurai would be there to help Sam go for 2 in a row vs. Murray.”
UPDATE, 7:56 pm: Well, Querrey advanced, but Murray lost. Querrey gets Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round, which seems destined for a daytime slot on Ashe.
