Australian Open – Darkhorses in the Men’s Side

Although it shall be difficult for the rest of the players whos names are not Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray to beat the four gentlemen just mentioned, anything is possible. Besides, Djokovic’s achievement of beating the top three ranked players in the world in a single tournament which included the finals match means it is attainable. I picked the names below to perhaps be the ones to cause a stir in this year’s Australian Open.

1. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga-He now has declared himself fit to enter the competition after he pulled out of a warm up tennis tournament because of back problems. Initially, this caused some disappointments among tennis fans who wanted to see the Frenchman once again after he beat Nadal last year in the semi-finals for the right to face Djokovic who in turn, beat Federer which is also not an easy thing to do. There are a lot of questions though regarding his fitness that can damper his chances of winning this year. Whether or not he can produce the same quality of tennis that he exhibited last year without his back tensing up once again shall be the key to his progress this year.

2. Andy Roddick-I can’t seem to understand what is keeping Roddick from tennis greatness. To own the most lethal serve in the men’s circuit means you can dominate your opponents and pummel them into submission. When he won the U.S. Open in 2003, the number one ranking was disputed between him and Federer. He even held it briefly after his win but Federer took it away in 2004. But it looked like he wasn’t able to recover his touch afterwards. He played badly in succeeding tournaments. All of the sudden, America’s last hope for men’s tennis dominance fizzled out and replaced by younger but hungrier title contenders in Nadal, Djokovic and now Murray. One point though that I think he should work on is his mental toughness. His oncourt outbursts looks to me like a sign of frustration. He should watch Nadal and Federer play, they don’t let anything bother them and when they do commit mistakes, they forget about it and play for the next point. And if one does see them scream, it is more of a “let’s go!” rally core rather than  an “I’m fed up!” sign.

3. Marat Safin-Just like Roddick, he also is a former Grand Slam winner, having captured the U.S. Open in 2000 when he defeated Pete Sampras and the 2005 Australian Open when he outclassed Aussie native Lleyton Hewitt. I always thought he still has enough gas left in his tank to win another Grand Slam. And I thought that with Dinara’s success in the women’s circuit last year, he shall be motivated enough to try and achieve something for himself this year. I remember the Safin who played against Hewitt. He appeared calm and in control of his emotions. He didn’t allow his frustrations to get better of him and appered to be psyching himself up to do better whenever Hewitt expressed his own fist pumping antics on the court. There were rumors that he seriously thinks of retiring from the sport soon. If this is true, I hope that he helps his cause by staying focused throughout the year, win another slam and end his career with a bang!

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