Last modified: Thursday, July 9, 2009 2:19 AM EDT Querry starts off on the right foot BY PETER GOBIS / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NEWPORT, R.I. - The "Samurai Club" was not present, but the fans lacing the outside courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame sent plenty of cheers the way of Sam Querry Wednesday. His friends back home in Santa Monica adopted the fan-base nickname and the 22-year-old Californian is gaining legion of admirers across the USA, being the fourth-highest ranked (No. 39) pro tennis player in America on the ATP Tour. "I'm working harder, I'm practicing harder, I'm running every day," said Querry, who needed only 60 minutes to dispatch Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-2 in his opening round match. Querry was a goo-goo-eyed 19-year-old when he first turned pro in 2006 and made his Newport debut, losing in the second round to Great Britain's Andy Murray. "It's a lot different for me now," said Querry, who notched his 20th victory on the tour this season. "I'm playing a lot of tournaments, I'm getting a lot of match wins, which is always good because the more wins you get , the more confident that you are." Querry won his first tour title last year at Las Vegas, was a semifinalist at Delray Beach and Indianapolis, reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Open and represented the USA in its semifinal round Davis Cup match last September against Spain, losing in four sets to Rafael Nadal. Clearly, there are more wins (48 over the past two ATP seasons) and fewer bad losses. He has his own website "Sam Querry.com" and at 6-foot-6 with an aw-shucks, good-ol' American boy demeanor, he has an allegiance. "It's fun for the fans, to be on top of the court like that," said Querry of the quorum huddled along the stone and grass walkways watching him on the only playable court. "From the baseline to the fence, it's probably 12 feet, it's not every day that you get to be that close. I'm glad that I got to play," he added, having only one hour of practice time over the past three days. Querry had a "pretty boring" first set against Hidalgo, with service breaks in the second and fourth games. He didn't play great (six aces, four double faults; only successful on 46 percent of his first serves), but was steady. "In the second set I started chipping and charging, that's what I have to do." What Querry would like to do is "hunt down some tickets for the (MLB) All-Star game" and get his Adidas-sponsored clothes. "Did you hear about that one? We were supposed to get our summer stuff at Wimbledon and the truck was robbed en route in Germany!" Only Andy Roddick, James Blake and Mardy Fish are ranked higher among Americans. Querry is the lower half of the Newport draw, being the No. 3 seed, in the same half though with defending champion and No. 2 seeded Fabrice Santoro. "I like my chances, because of the way the courts are playing, the low bounce, it evens the playing field a little bit and if that's right, the No. 1 seed has never won. I'm putting more time in off the court, I'm really fit and strong, I know that I'm not going to get tired. "I want to get my ranking in the top 32, so you get seeded, that's a big goal. I want to play more matches, I'd like to go deeper in the big tournaments, the ones that count." To be a Samurai Warrior! Double faults "The weather hasn't been co-operating," said Seekonk's Dan Robillard, the head grounds keeper, who was forced to shut down the main Stadium Courts due to Tuesday afternoon's and Wednesday's early morning downpours. Not just that, but three of the four outside courts as well, allowing for play on just one court To that end, Hall of Fame Executive Director Mark Stenning decreed once again that all Wednesday ticket holders would be admitted as well on Thursday - 20 matches are scheduled in both singles and doubles 2007 finalist Nicolas Mahut of France defeated Amer Delic 6-4, 6-4, winning 27 of 29 first service points, not facing one break point and having a 13-2 edge in first return points won. "It is really, really difficult to play," said No. 146 Mahut of the soggy courts and endlines. "This is quite difficult because of the conditions, the bounces are really low" Alex Bogomolov of Florida stunned No. 5 seeded and No. 53 ranked Arnaud Clement of France 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Bogomolov, ranked No. 180 with just $6,467 of earnings this year, hadn't won an ATP match since Miami in 2006, losing in the first round of four straight Challenger circuit matches this year and the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon. "All of us have problems with everything," said Bogomolov of the court conditions and recovering from left wrist ligament surgery in January. "I haven't won a match since October. "Beating a top 50 guy in the world, I don't know how to explain it" No. 6 seed Philipp Petzschner of Germany won 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 over Horacio Zeballos Two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro had his match suspended due to a thunderstorm at 6:03, tied at 3-3 with Italy's Flavio Cipolla.