French Open 2012: Is Andreas Seppi Poised for a Grand Slam Run?

Italy's Andreas Seppi has never really been a factor in Grand Slam tournaments. However, the World No. 25 does have some momentum heading into the 2012 French Open.

He has a recent clay-court title from ATP Belgrade, he is at his career-high ranking with the May 21st ranking update and he also played well at the recently completed Rome Masters. All of those results should give the Italian a lot of confidence heading into Roland Garros.

On the other hand, Seppi is hardly a proven Grand Slam player, as he is 28 years old and has never advanced to the fourth round of any major.

However, Seppi will benefit from a seed that should give him a couple of winnable matches in the first two rounds at this year's French Open. He may need to defeat higher-ranked players after that but given his recent run of form, the Italian stands a decent chance to make the fourth round.

With the right draw, Seppi could make the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. That result would help the World No. 25 crack the Top 20 for the first time in his career—although that result still does not seem likely to me.

Seppi is hardly a contender for the title at Paris, but he is an interesting player to watch—a bit of a question mark.

Will he continue his recent form and finally make a little bit of a name for himself at the 2012 French Open? Or are his ATP results insignificant compared to the more grueling best-of-five-set matches?