Best Non-Big 4 Player when they're "on" (Minus Stanimal)

[flyinghippos101]

Besides Wawrinka, whom we all know and love as Stanimal when he engages beast mode, who's the second best player when they're zoning in not part of the "Big Four"? My most obvious choices would probably be Tsonga, Berdych, and Monfils in that order.

Tsonga has scored big wins against the entire Big Four at some point or another, not to mention pulls off outrageous shots when he's clicking. Berdych comes next for the consistency he generally has, as well as those moments when he's on like during his few slam wins against Fed and Djok.

 

[heninfan99]

When they're on? As in one set? Dolgopolov until Delpo returns to form.

 

[Nathaniel_Near]

Not sure. There are a lack of dangerous "second tier" guys, to be entirely honest. Berdych being in the conversation is just annoying. There should be two or three Wawrinka's about right now and not just one. Delpo would've indeed be one of those guys but he's been battered by injuries. Davydenko had the potential too... and Soderling. The dangerous Wawrinka calibre players we could have had challenge the very top dogs this era have tended to suffer from very serious fitness problems.

Perhaps Nishikori, Dimitrov or Raonic will step it up.

The list of quality Slam winning second tier potential champs that could be going strong right now should read like this:

Wawrinka
Del Potro
Soderling
maybe Davydenko, though he'd be very old by now

But it actually reads like this:

Wawrinka

 

[-snake-]

Delpo/Clownga.

 

[Djokovic2011]

Probably Tsonga though sadly he tends to be more "off" these days than on.

 

[papertank]

Tsonga is definitely first behind Stan. He's had quite a few tournaments where he's gone on a role and just been unbeatable. Delpo is probably third.

I would not include Berdych in this conversation at all. Although he has a big game like these guys, he's much more akin to Ferrer in terms of results. He very consistently makes quarters and semis, sometimes scoring big upsets, but he's hardly ever able to string together more than one big win in a row. Really the only time he did this was Wimbledon 2010. This is the same with Monfils, Ferrer, Dimitrov, etc. I'll hold off on judging Nishikori as I don't think he's hit his prime yet.

At a slightly lower tier, I think Tomic and Janowicz are pretty great at their best.

As far as recently retired players go, Nalbandian and obviously Safin would fit greatly into this category.

 

[dh003i]

Would Tsonga still say ridiculous things like how he wouldn't trade his career for Wawrinkas? Well, I guess that isn't ridiculous, but just a preference for being himself; otoh, if it is meant to imply that Tsonga's career is better than Wawrinka's overall, it was probably ridiculous after Wawa won the AO and is certainly ridiculous now.

 

[Bartelby]

The Big Four is history.

 

[thomasferrett]

Berdych doesn't fit this catergory. He's clean and smooth, but robotic and unimaginative. And he is a 'power-player' who is actully without exceptional power. A bunch of guys smaller than him are more powerful than him (Wawrinka, Almagro). Ferrer has more of a chance against the top guys than him. So does Tsonga.

Almagro when he's on is a handful, as is Kolschreiber, Thiem, Nishikori and Klizan. These guys have monster groundies off both wings.

Out of action players include Delpo and Soderling.

Serve-bots when they're zoning are (annoyingly) very hard to beat. They give the top guys zero rhythm and frustrate them. Raonic, Isner, Karlovic.

 

[RacquetAbuse101]

Delpo/Tsonga/Cilic

But Stan is THE Non-Big 4 player, obviously...

 

[Amalhotra]

Del potro can beat anybody when hes on

 

[Inanimate_object]

Fat safin.