Sam Querrey to start hitting Monday

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Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks, the defending champion of the Farmers Classic tennis tournament, isn’t defending his title because he is still recovering from elbow surgery he had in June.

Querrey was on the grounds Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA and said he will start hitting Monday, hopes to play a warm-up tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C., before the U.S. Open and plans, no matter what, to play in the Open.

Querrey, 23, felt pain in his right arm while warming up at a pre-Wimbledon tournament in England. “I felt the worst pain ever,” Querrey said. “A big chunk of bone chipped off my elbow.” Querrey flew to New York and had surgery and said he’s been given clearance to start hitting tennis balls Monday as long as there is no pain.

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-- Diane Pucin