Your "dark-horses" for the US Open?

Federer and Del Potro

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
Hey guys, just wanted to take a second to introduce myself before making this thread being as that this is my first post and I am excited to be here.

My name is Matt, and by my username you can see my two favorite players on tour :).

Just wanted to say hi and that I thought this looked like a great forum as an observer. Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!

I was wondering who you guys would list as your dark-horses or x-factors for the upcoming US Open.

I've been paying attention to a lot of players, and while I don't expect one of these guys to actually go all the way and win a major, it's neat to think about if any one of these guys can spring a huge upset. Of course, an upset is a lot harder to attain in the best of five set format.

But here are some guys I have an eye on, feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

Tommy Haas: Since beating Roger Federer prior to Wimbledon, Tommy has been playing some high-octane tennis. Took Djokovic to 3 sets in Toronto, fell to Monaco in another final (pretty closely contested). Dropped a tough one to Juan Martin Del Potro (:twisted:) yesterday.

Juan Martin Del Potro: Was gutted when he lost at the Olympics, albeit to my other favorite player, but have liked overall his form and how it has progressed since the devastating wrist injury suffered at the 2009 AO against Gilles Simon. Has a tough match today against Viktor Troicki, will be interesting to see if he can contend for the title at Flushing Meadows again. I would think he would like to avoid Roger, who has owned him since the 2009 loss to him at the USO Final.

Juan Monaco: Now you guys will have to help me out with this one. I've been watching this guy play and am pretty impressed. I am not sure, though, what his best surface is (someone told me clay, is this true)? Recently just cracked the top ten and won his first big tournament over Tommy Haas (his celebration was priceless by the way, went to his box and embraced everyone excitedly).

Of course you also have guys like:

John Isner: Can his serve be enough? Can he salvage enough of a defense and a return game to stun the worlds top guns? We have seen it before (beating Federer at Davis Cup, beating Djokovic earlier in the year as well). Big John always gives the American fan-base a semblance of local hope.

Ivo Karlovic: Last seen/heard accusing the lines-man at Wimbledon of favoring home town favorite Andy Murray, not much has been heard of Ivo since. Was slated to play in the Olympics but dropped out with an injury, where he would have possibly had a showdown with the Swiss Maestro.

The American Hopefuls: What can Sam Querry, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Andy Roddick do? Can any of them make any kind of noise?

 
Totai said:
Your user names are the people I choose as dark horses
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HAHA. While I wouldn't put Roger as my top favorite with guys like a newly revitalized Andy Murray (in terms of supreme confidence) and an always game Novak Djokovic in the fold, I don't really consider a guy with 17 majors a "dark-horse". But the term is ambiguous so I won't/can't fault you for looking at it that way.

JMDP is certainly of the dark-horse + under-dog caliber though.
 
Nadal.

We all know he has potential but no one has ever won the USO who was not in the main draw registered for the tournament. That's why he's my pick.
 
I'd pick Tsonga, Berdych, and honestly, Ferrer, if he gets his act together. He took Murray to four on his worst surface, and beat him at RG. If he doesn't meet Fed, I'd say he has a chance to win it.
 
Golden said:
I'd pick Tsonga, Berdych, and honestly, Ferrer, if he gets his act together. He took Murray to four on his worst surface, and beat him at RG. If he doesn't meet Fed, I'd say he has a chance to win it.
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Ah yes, Ferrer. That is one of the big questions. It looked like in his match with Nishikori at the Olympics, he hurt himself. Has not looked the same since Wimbledon, hopefully he is physically 100 percent.
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Ah yes, Ferrer. That is one of the big questions. It looked like in his match with Nishikori at the Olympics, he hurt himself. Has not looked the same since Wimbledon, hopefully he is physically 100 percent.
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Wait he hurt himself? Do you know what exactly he hurt?
 
Golden said:
Wait he hurt himself? Do you know what exactly he hurt?
Click to expand...

Honestly, no. I don't even know if he got hurt. I know he played Cincy yesterday after pulling out of Toronto. He played Wawrinka (I don't know if I'm allowed to post the result of that match here, so I won't).

He lost the first set to Nishikori 6-0 and looked to be laboring. However, he recovered well after that, so it may have just been a slow start.

If Ferrer avoids Federer, his chances go up by a lot. I think Federer is something like 13-0 all-time against him.
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Hey guys, just wanted to take a second to introduce myself before making this thread being as that this is my first post and I am excited to be here.

My name is Matt, and by my username you can see my two favorite players on tour :).

Just wanted to say hi and that I thought this looked like a great forum as an observer. Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!

I was wondering who you guys would list as your dark-horses or x-factors for the upcoming US Open.

I've been paying attention to a lot of players, and while I don't expect one of these guys to actually go all the way and win a major, it's neat to think about if any one of these guys can spring a huge upset. Of course, an upset is a lot harder to attain in the best of five set format.

But here are some guys I have an eye on, feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

Tommy Haas: Since beating Roger Federer prior to Wimbledon, Tommy has been playing some high-octane tennis. Took Djokovic to 3 sets in Toronto, fell to Monaco in another final (pretty closely contested). Dropped a tough one to Juan Martin Del Potro (:twisted:) yesterday.

Juan Martin Del Potro: Was gutted when he lost at the Olympics, albeit to my other favorite player, but have liked overall his form and how it has progressed since the devastating wrist injury suffered at the 2009 AO against Gilles Simon. Has a tough match today against Viktor Troicki, will be interesting to see if he can contend for the title at Flushing Meadows again. I would think he would like to avoid Roger, who has owned him since the 2009 loss to him at the USO Final.

Juan Monaco: Now you guys will have to help me out with this one. I've been watching this guy play and am pretty impressed. I am not sure, though, what his best surface is (someone told me clay, is this true)? Recently just cracked the top ten and won his first big tournament over Tommy Haas (his celebration was priceless by the way, went to his box and embraced everyone excitedly).

Of course you also have guys like:

John Isner: Can his serve be enough? Can he salvage enough of a defense and a return game to stun the worlds top guns? We have seen it before (beating Federer at Davis Cup, beating Djokovic earlier in the year as well). Big John always gives the American fan-base a semblance of local hope.

Ivo Karlovic: Last seen/heard accusing the lines-man at Wimbledon of favoring home town favorite Andy Murray, not much has been heard of Ivo since. Was slated to play in the Olympics but dropped out with an injury, where he would have possibly had a showdown with the Swiss Maestro.

The American Hopefuls: What can Sam Querry, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Andy Roddick do? Can any of them make any kind of noise?
Click to expand...

Good analysis. What a refreshing change around here. Welcome.
Yes, clay is Monaco's favorite surface. Has done fairly well on some hard court events but can't seee him going too far here unless he gets a very favorable draw.
The Americans are really up and down this year. Some like Mardy Fish and Roddick have had injury/health problems. Obviously DY is a mess and would be lucky to win a match. Querry is playing well but it is hard to see him beating any of the top 3 yet. Isner, after a good start to the year, has been disappointing. No one wants to seem him on their side of the draw, but winning the tournament is a huge stretch as he can' seem to string several good matches together and struggles mightly to break serve so all him matches go very long which leaves him exhausted.
 
sunof tennis said:
Good analysis. What a refreshing change around here. Welcome.
Yes, clay is Monaco's favorite surface. Has done fairly well on some hard court events but can't seee him going too far here unless he gets a very favorable draw.
The Americans are really up and down this year. Some like Mardy Fish and Roddick have had injury/health problems. Obviously DY is a mess and would be lucky to win a match. Querry is playing well but it is hard to see him beating any of the top 3 yet. Isner, after a good start to the year, has been disappointing. No one wants to seem him on their side of the draw, but winning the tournament is a huge stretch as he can' seem to string several good matches together and struggles mightly to break serve so all him matches go very long which leaves him exhausted.
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Hey thanks man, I understand some of these posts + threads can turn into pointless arguments about Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic etc etc, but I have seen plenty of intelligent posts around here, this one included.

I agree completely, Monaco seems like the type of guy that if you give him a favorable draw, he could utilize it and go far (like Tomic making the Wimby quarters last year).

As for the Americans, ahh forgot about Mardy Fish! It seems like some kind of nagging injury is always stopping him from taking that one step further. Unfortunately though, that is what happens when you get older. :-|
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Hey thanks man, I understand some of these posts + threads can turn into pointless arguments about Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic etc etc, but I have seen plenty of intelligent posts around here, this one included.

I agree completely, Monaco seems like the type of guy that if you give him a favorable draw, he could utilize it and go far (like Tomic making the Wimby quarters last year).

As for the Americans, ahh forgot about Mardy Fish! It seems like some kind of nagging injury is always stopping him from taking that one step further. Unfortunately though, that is what happens when you get older. :-|
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Perhaps this might be Mardy's time. I think if he stays healthy he could go really far. I suppose he's like wine: he gets better with age. He made short work of his opponents the last two matches, and he can always pull out his net play to make sure he doesn't get too worn out.
 
Golden said:
Perhaps this might be Mardy's time. I think if he stays healthy he could go really far. I suppose he's like wine: he gets better with age. He made short work of his opponents the last two matches, and he can always pull out his net play to make sure he doesn't get too worn out.
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Yeah man, I'm looking forward to the prospect of a Fish-Federer match. They had a really good final here a while back. Think it went 3 sets with Federer winning the last 2 after dropping the first. Unfortunately for Mardy, it didn't translate into success at the US OPEN. Of course, it's just so much harder winning three sets versus two.
 
Wow! Hello and weclome, Federer and Del Potro! Nice to meet you!

I like and agree with your picks. Very nice reasoning!

For me:

Haas (like you said) - would love to see him make a final run. Has the game to trouble anyone, even top players on an off-day.

Hewitt - showed a lot of fight at the Olympics and Australia against Djokovic and can make some noise.

Roddick - can go on a run, but is more like Haas. I'm concerned for his ground game because his serve isn't doing nearly as much damage as he'd like

Raonic - can do a lot of damage, but I'm not sure he's ready yet

Tsonga - can easily make a SF run

Ferrer - underestimated on HCs, I think. Can make the semis as well

I think that, with Ferrer being the most probable fourth seed, any of the players that we think may have a shot at a run who get drawn into his quarter have their chances increase by a lot.

By the way, where in PA are you from? I'm from Philadelphia and live about 50 miles outside the city now, but go to university there.

EDIT: I didn't list del Potro because I think he should start as one of the favorites, along with Djokovic, Federer, and Murray
 
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I think, I just got one of my post removed. I was not saying no way to anyone's post, I was just shocked.

OP,
your last name start with a W?
 
FlashFlare11 said:
Wow! Hello and weclome, Federer and Del Potro! Nice to meet you!

I like and agree with your picks. Very nice reasoning!

For me:

Haas (like you said) - would love to see him make a final run. Has the game to trouble anyone, even top players on an off-day.

Hewitt - showed a lot of fight at the Olympics and Australia against Djokovic and can make some noise.

Roddick - can go on a run, but is more like Haas. I'm concerned for his ground game because his serve isn't doing nearly as much damage as he'd like

Raonic - can do a lot of damage, but I'm not sure he's ready yet

Tsonga - can easily make a SF run

Ferrer - underestimated on HCs, I think. Can make the semis as well

I think that, with Ferrer being the most probable fourth seed, any of the players that we think may have a shot at a run who get drawn into his quarter have their chances increase by a lot.

By the way, where in PA are you from? I'm from Philadelphia and live about 50 miles outside the city now, but go to university there.

EDIT: I didn't list del Potro because I think he should start as one of the favorites, along with Djokovic, Federer, and Murray
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Malvern, Pa, about an hour outside of Philadelphia.I go to Michigan State University for school.

Excellent analysis, I agree.

rdis10093 said:
I think, I just got one of my post removed. I was not saying no way to anyone's post, I was just shocked.

OP,
your last name start with a W?
Click to expand...

No, and I only reported the post because I had no idea what it meant and it looked to be just spam. My apologies. I had no idea what or who you were referring to with that post.
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Malvern, Pa, about an hour outside of Philadelphia.I go to Michigan State University for school.

Excellent analysis, I agree.



No, and I only reported the post because I had no idea what it meant and it looked to be just spam. My apologies. I had no idea what or who you were referring to with that post.
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haha, no worries man. I have a friend, that is a huge delpo and fed fan whose name is also matt. I though he came to his senses and joined tt. He is also a college player like us.

My vote for the dark horses is hewitt and nalbandain.
 
It also depends largely with the draw. With Nadal's absence we get a huge hole in the draw. If delpo gets in ferrer's quarter I give him an outside chance to win the whole thing.
 
FlashFlare11 said:
I live in Thorndale, really close to Malvern (took my driver's test right in Frazer) and go to school at Temple. How do you like MI compared to PA?
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Both are great places to be, that's ironic though I was so close to going to Temple! I'm a junior at MSU now, and it's a great, great school. It gets really cold here in Michigan though haha. And I mean..really cold. Like snow in May type crazy weather.

But yeah, I joined the Club Tennis team at MSU, the clubs were what made it good for me.

That is funny how close we are. Nice to meet you and again, nice analysis.
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Both are great places to be, that's ironic though I was so close to going to Temple! I'm a junior at MSU now, and it's a great, great school. It gets really cold here in Michigan though haha. And I mean..really cold. Like snow in May type crazy weather.

But yeah, I joined the Club Tennis team at MSU, the clubs were what made it good for me.

That is funny how close we are. Nice to meet you and again, nice analysis.
Click to expand...

Hahahaha snow in May? That's crazy! But, MSU is a very good school so I would say the weather's worth it! :)

It's so awesome to meet another Federer and delPo fan here who's so close to where I live. Thank you and I look forward to more of your posts!
 
rdis10093 said:
haha, no worries man. I have a friend, that is a huge delpo and fed fan whose name is also matt. I though he came to his senses and joined tt. He is also a college player like us.

My vote for the dark horses is hewitt and nalbandain.
Click to expand...

FlashFlare11 said:
Hahahaha snow in May? That's crazy! But, MSU is a very good school so I would say the weather's worth it! :)
Wow irony is just in full supply today then hahaha. Nice to meet you bud, also agree with those 2. Lots seem to think Nalbandian can make one last push. Of course Hewitt could do, gave Djokovic a great match at the Olympics.
It's so awesome to meet another Federer and delPo fan here who's so close to where I live. Thank you and I look forward to more of your posts!
Click to expand...

Temple, too, is a great school. Hope you're enjoying it there, and nice to meet you as well my friend.

So far the forum is living up to what I thought it would be. Lots of well-versed Tennis fans. I know I can learn a lot here
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Hey thanks man, I understand some of these posts + threads can turn into pointless arguments about Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic etc etc, but I have seen plenty of intelligent posts around here, this one included.

I agree completely, Monaco seems like the type of guy that if you give him a favorable draw, he could utilize it and go far (like Tomic making the Wimby quarters last year).

As for the Americans, ahh forgot about Mardy Fish! It seems like some kind of nagging injury is always stopping him from taking that one step further. Unfortunately though, that is what happens when you get older. :-|
Click to expand...

Tell me about the getting older part-for me first it was the elbow, then the wrist, then the shoulder.
 
Re Op: Can a top 10 player in form who is a previous champion of the event be called a dark horse? (Delpo)

Id say hes a genuine contender
 
sunof tennis said:
Tell me about the getting older part-for me first it was the elbow, then the wrist, then the shoulder.
Click to expand...

Nooooo, tough break man. Not looking forward to those days of my tennis career. It'll be a sad day when physical ailment is stopping me from playing.

jones101 said:
Can a top 10 player in form who is a previous champion of the event be called a dark horse?
Click to expand...

Great question, to many, probably not. To a lot of people, anyone outside of Fed, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray would be considered a dark horse in terms of actually winning the major.

Del Potro might just be a "tweener"
 
I don't know. Tsonga would be my darkhorse pick to cause trouble to a top player (a tight match with one of the Top 3) or possibly cause one upset. But, even if he did that, I don't see him winning the whole thing. Same with Delpo.

But, if anyone other than Fed/Murray/Djoker win, Delpo or Tsonga would be my picks. But I have no belief that it will acutally happen.
 
While the big boys have been in Europe all summer, Sam Querry has been amassing some nice wins on the American HC's. I'd like to see him make some noise and a 2nd week upset is not unlikely.

The usual suspects (Tsonga,DelPo,Ferrer) will go deep, but as for that rare spoiler, I like Querry, Isner, and Haas.
 
UltimateBombero said:
While the big boys have been in Europe all summer, Sam Querry has been amassing some nice wins on the American HC's. I'd like to see him make some noise and a 2nd week upset is not unlikely.

The usual suspects (Tsonga,DelPo,Ferrer) will go deep, but as for that rare spoiler, I like Querry, Isner, and Haas.
Click to expand...

Great picks. I too noticed Querry doing very well for himself. Had a tough loss to Murray at this past Cincy tourney, but I still like him to make some noise.
 
I still give Delpo the best chance to win the whole thing outside the big 3. He is one of the few this year that has shown us that he can beat the top players, nearly beating fed and straight setting djokovic.
 
kragster said:
Nadal.

We all know he has potential but no one has ever won the USO who was not in the main draw registered for the tournament. That's why he's my pick.
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I think we have to agree on this. Nadal is definitely the dark horse.

Welcome to TW, where 50% are trolls, 40% are joking around and only 10% (like you) actually talk about tennis seriously.
 
underground said:
I think we have to agree on this. Nadal is definitely the dark horse.

Welcome to TW, where 50% are trolls, 40% are joking around and only 10% (like you) actually talk about tennis seriously.
Click to expand...

Hahaha well, so far over 10 percent has had some good tennis discussion. Sadly with any forum there are trolls. But hey, if I can find a 10-25 percent serious group of people. I'll take it!
 
My pics are Gasquet and Berdych..

Gasquet had a pretty good run in Toronto but lost to Djoko, lost to Raonic first round in Cincy but I think with more imaginative play he can do well this Open.

Berdych simply because I believe his due for some good run. Hasn't had the best summer at all and I think he might have a good chance. The errors though are pretty worrying, the double faults and forehand inside out low esp....
 
My dark horses are Murray, Federer and Djokovic.

Murray because he seems to be in good form going to the Wimbledon final and winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

Federer because he seems in good form in Cinci and he won Wimbledon!

Djokovic has not had a good year, but if he rediscovers some of his 2011 form, watch out!

Honourable mention to Nadal: He looks to be injured now but if he discovers some health, captures a surprise wild card and brings back that 2010USO serve, he could win it!
 
Beryl said:
My dark horses are Murray, Federer and Djokovic.

Murray because he seems to be in good form going to the Wimbledon final and winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

Federer because he seems in good form in Cinci and he won Wimbledon!

Djokovic has not had a good year, but if he rediscovers some of his 2011 form, watch out!

Honourable mention to Nadal: He looks to be injured now but if he discovers some health, captures a surprise wild card and brings back that 2010USO serve, he could win it!
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lol, I wonder who the favorites are?
 
there are no darkhorses anymore in mens tennis. Its either Djoker or Fed with Nadal out of the mix. The closest thing to a darkhorse is Murray.
 
Lefty5 said:
there are no darkhorses anymore in mens tennis. Its either Djoker or Fed with Nadal out of the mix. The closest thing to a darkhorse is Murray.
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While I agree with what you said, I still believe there are dark-horses in the form of a player who can spring a major upset..like Rosol did to Nadal, Berdych to Federer at Wimbledon (perhaps that wasn't hugely major, but it was big)...etc etc.
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
While I agree with what you said, I still believe there are dark-horses in the form of a player who can spring a major upset..like Rosol did to Nadal, Berdych to Federer at Wimbledon (perhaps that wasn't hugely major, but it was big)...etc etc.
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That's true, but you have to upset at least 2 of them to win it.
 
Yes exactly. It depends in which half you end up in, since Nadal isn't there. Beating 3 of the top 4 back to back would be massive though. oO
 
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