Sam Querrey advances in U.S. Open

He's 20, accruing wisdom, oozing confidence and booked to the fourth round of the U.S. Open after he wiped out fellow redwood and 14th-ranked Ivo Karlovic of Croatia on Saturday, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2, then showed a working knowledge of network television.

"You know, I made the CBS weekend," he cracked.

Bright lights will track him in the next round as he stands opposite Rafael Nadal, the king of the world, from whom Querrey won a set in Cincinnati in 2006 in a match of which Querrey said, "Like the main thing from that match I remember, I was playing at 2 and I knew ESPN went on the air at 3. I wanted to make it to 3 to get some ESPN time, which I did."

Now he's advancing with stars such as Venus Williams, who destroyed a perfectly swell player named Alona Bondarenko, 6-2, 6-1, then said, "Oh, I think I'm definitely at my best now. I think I understand the game more." Then there's Serena Williams, who thrashed Ai Sugiyama, also 6-2, 6-1, then said, "I'm definitely not at my best, but I hope to get there."

There's Nadal, 41-1 since May after his 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win over Viktor Troicki, and there's the contending No. 6 Scot Andy Murray, who just as at Wimbledon extracted a gem from a chasm in a 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3 win over Jurgen Melzer of Austria. And then there's Mardy Fish, who in a night match knocked out good friend, ninth-seeded James Blake, who's always a New York favorite, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

To join them, the 6-foot-6 Querrey had to win a Leverage Bowl with the 6-foot-10 Karlovic, and win he did while impressing with a serve Karlovic ranked just behind Andy Roddick's, plus a newfound ruthlessness of which Querrey said, "You just kind of put your foot down a little and show them that you're really out there to win and, you know, that's big."

The resulting whoosh upward will take him to at least No. 45, with Karlovic himself forecasting a top-10 landing among fellow Americans Roddick and James Blake.

That's all from a guy who went to Thousand Oaks High attending his sister's volleyball matches, attending football games, having high school friends and practicing up the street from his house at a club taking lessons plus clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays.