Thousand Oaks grad Sam Querrey ends Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam run at Wimbledon

Reign, suspended. The world’s No. 1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic, is out of Wimbledon.

In a stunning upset that was repeatedly delayed because of light showers, the two-time defending champion was ousted in the third round Saturday by Sam Querrey, a native Californian and Thousand Oaks High graduate seeded 28th in this storied tournament.

“It’s an unbelievable win,” said Querrey, 28. “To do it here at Wimbledon is really special.”

It was a shocking dismissal of Djokovic, who had won four majors in a row and was halfway to a so-called calendar Grand Slam, requiring same-year victories in Wimbledon, along with the Australian, French and U.S. Opens. Djokovic already had won the Australian and French.

“It’s an amazing feeling, obviously, to be able to hold four Grand Slams at the same time,” said Djokovic, 29. “Coming into Wimbledon, I knew that mentally it’s not going to be easy to re-motivate myself. But the importance of this tournament is so immense that you always find ways to get inspired and prepare and try to give your best.

“Obviously, my best wasn’t enough this year.”

Novak Djokovic walks off the court following his loss to Sam Querrey on Saturday at Wimbledon.

(Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA)

The 6-foot-6 Querrey, who was dominant with his powerful serve, won 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) and made good on the two-set lead he built Friday when the match was suspended because of rain.

“I slept great,” Querrey said. “I’m a pretty relaxed guy. Had an easy dinner at the house. . . . Got back here today and went to work.”

So Querrey moves on to the round of 16, as does his doubles partner and friend since childhood, Steve Johnson, who beat Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-2.

Johnson, who anchored a USC team that won four consecutive national championships, will play Roger Federer on Monday. Querrey’s next opponent is France’s Nicolas Mahut.

Querrey and Johnson lost their doubles match Saturday afternoon, but the primary focus is a men’s singles field that’s suddenly up for grabs with the startling departure of Djokovic.

In terms of tournament favorites, the spotlight now swings to Scotland’s Andy Murray, who won here three years ago and became the first British player to claim a Wimbledon singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977.

Saturday’s conclusion to the two-day Querrey-Djokovic match was staged in frustrating spurts under churning skies, with rain delays coming after 17, 25 and 53 minutes of play. By all appearances, that played right into the hands of the underdog, as Djokovic never had a chance to keep his momentum going after winning the first five games of the day.

But Querrey’s massive serve was a huge factor, too, and it only grew more pronounced as the match rolled along. He finished with 25 aces — against the toughest player in tennis to ace — with 15 of those coming in the decisive fourth set.

“Coming into the match, I knew that it’s going to be very close, not easy to break his serve,” Djokovich said. “If he’s on a roll, as he was, it’s really hard to read his serve. He hits his spots really well.”

Querrey, who once turned down a USC tennis scholarship to turn pro, is the first American to beat a player ranked No. 1 in the world since John Isner knocked off Djokovic three years ago in Cincinnati.

Querrey and Djokovic had played nine times before, and their history was notably lopsided. Djokovic had won eight of those, and was particularly dominant in Grand Slam events, never surrendering more than three games to Querrey in a set.

That changed Friday when Querrey, ranked 41st, burst out of the gates by winning back-to-back sets.

“I’m not going to lie and say going into it I thought I was going to win,” Querrey said. “But I think as the match progressed, I was serving well and holding in the first set. . . . I gained a little more confidence with every game.”

Most observers figured Djokovic would rally back, however, as he did last year when he lost the first two sets to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson before roaring back to win the last three.

According to betting expert R.J. Bell, Las Vegas oddsmakers still gave Djokovic a 60% chance to win when he trailed by two sets, and those chances climbed to 75% Saturday after he won the third set.

But with stern-faced coach Boris Becker perched on the edge of his Court 1 seat, and popping to his feet after every big point, Djokovic failed to mount a sufficient comeback.

Aside from making some brief post-match comments for television, Querrey declined interviews after the upset, opting to postpone his media session until after his doubles match Saturday afternoon.

Djokovic, meanwhile, wanted to get his media obligations out of the way as quickly as possible and put this defeat behind him.

“Thankfully, I have a family and a life outside of tennis,” he said. “I have plenty of things to look forward to. I’m going to obviously pay more attention to those things than tennis in the next period. I need it.

“It’s been a very successful year so far, but a very long one, exhausting one in every sense of the word. I just need some rest.”

sam.farmer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesfarmer

UPDATES:

11:01 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Querrey.

10:25 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details.

This article was originally published at 9:39 a.m.