Roger Federer: Underrated Threats Who Will Challenge Fed-Ex in London

Less than a month after winning his seventh Wimbledon title, Roger Federer will return to the London, this time looking to take home a gold medal. 

The biggest threats to Fed-Ex winning his first single's gold are obvious: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Any one of those three could up-end Federer on any given day, so I won't dive into that.

But as Murray proved a few weeks ago, someone you aren't expecting can certainly make a run to the finals and even challenge for the title, or as Julien Benneteau proved a week before that, Federer can be susceptible even against the lower-ranked players.

With that being said, here's a look at some underrated threats who Federer shouldn't overlook at the 2012 Olympics. 

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Tsonga has only faced Federer one time on grass in his career, but it's safe to say it was successful. In 2011, the Frenchman knocked off Fed-Ex in the Wimbledon quarterfinals after losing the first two sets.

Of course, Federer looked more like the vintage Federer in 2012, so it might just be a matter of who shows up in London. Nonetheless, Tsonga has beaten Federer multiple times and he has had most of his major success at Wimbledon, so you know he can at least hold his own.

Of the potential quarterfinal matchups for Federer, Tsonga would arguably be the toughest. 

Tomas Berdych

Berdych joins Tsonga as the only players to knock off Federer before the finals at Wimbledon since 2002.

The 26-year-old Czech, took out Fed-Ex in the 2010 quarterfinals, winning in four sets on his way to a finals appearances.

Despite his first round exit last month, Wimbledon has by far been Berdych's best major. In addition to that finals run, he made the quarters in 2007 and has won just under 72 percent of his matches on the storied grass. 

There's no question Federer would be out to get revenge on the 2010 defeat, but it's likely Berdych will be looking to bounce back after his incredibly disappointing loss to Ernests Gulbis. 

Milos Raonic

After Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Tsonga and Berdych, I don't see many realistic candidates to knock off Federer, but as you know, anything can happen.

For now, let's go with the 21-year-old who has loads of potential and might just be young enough to not understand how much the pressure the Olympics brings. 

If Raonic can avoid the nerves, he has the impressive serve to avoid breaks and consistently keep himself in sets. If he is able to do that, an upset is always possible. 

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