Two rounds into the Australian Open, the outlook was rather bright for Sam Querrey.  The second-ranked American man had cruised past the dangerous Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.  Only clay specialist Fabio Fognini—a solid but beatable opponent—stood between Querrey and a trip to the second week of the season’s first major. 

That was when the roof seemingly collapsed on the loose-limbed giant from Southern California.  Ousted by Fognini in a routine affair, Querrey then reeled through a series of embarrassing losses.  Leading world No. 175 James Ward two sets to one in a must-win Davis Cup rubber, he dropped serve five straight times and eventually the match.  In Memphis, he held a match point against journeyman Alex Bogomolov before tasting defeat in a third-set tiebreak.  Querrey won the first set from higher-ranked foe Feliciano Lopez in Delray Beach, only to suffer his fifth defeat from that position this year.

Even the sturdiest of competitors would not emerge from a losing streak spanning five matches and three surfaces with their confidence undented.  And Querrey looked very much like a player who needed an injection of confidence during his first match in Acapulco.  The draw gods had smiled on him more than in previous weeks by handing him a matchup with Mexican wildcard Tigre Frank.  Ranked outside the top 500, Frank was an ideal opponent against whom to end a losing streak.

For the same reason, though, Frank was a man with nothing to lose, and it showed on Monday night.  As Querrey struggled to string together spans of strong form, Frank did just enough in the opening set to hang onto his serve and force a tiebreak.  He had subjected the American to virtually no pressure in his service games, but the tiebreak gave him a chance to steal the set.  Although Frank let a 4-2 lead escape, he played three outstanding points at 4-5 in the tiebreak.  An ace and a service winner moved him to set point at 6-5, when he threaded the needle on a superb backhand pass that would have made a much more notable player proud.

Querrey must have struggled to resist fatalism and self-doubt at that stage.  Thoughts of déjà vu surely crept into his mind as the Mexican crowd cheered their man with a Davis Cup-like enthusiasm.  But massive underdogs tend to dip into lulls after the momentum swings in their direction.  That is what happened to Frank, broken to start the second set just after his tiebreak heroics.  Querrey would save a break point on his own serve shortly, but he closed out the set without further ado.

Since breaking Querrey’s serve looked well beyond Frank’s reach, an early break in the third set seemed to settle the match.  What also had settled, more importantly, were Querrey’s nerves.  As his comeback progressed, his body language grew more composed and his routine between points more deliberate.  He appeared to remind himself what it felt like to win, which he did by a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 scoreline. 

Defeating an opponent ranked 600 places lower than oneself may offer no cause for celebration.  But a win is a win, and Querrey will be grateful to have halted his losing streak before two Masters 1000 tournaments on home soil.  The season remains young, so he will have plenty of time to turn a new leaf.