Wimbledon 2011: Andy Roddick and 2 Other Dark Horses
Everyone is talking about who can win Wimbledon, but more than often the discussion is limited to only three or four men: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray.
The majority of fans would love a repeat of the French Open semifinals, in which those four rose above everyone else.
As is the tradition at Wimbledon—see Andy Roddick in 2009 and Tomas Berdych last year—there will be one man that shifts the status quo.
Who outside the top four can put the cat amongst the pigeons this year?
1. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
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Tsonga's best performance at Wimbledon was last year, when he made the quarterfinals. The world's No. 19 lost that match 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 to Andy Murray.
The Frenchman, Tsonga, will be confident of at least a repeat of last year's performance. His impressive run at Queens before he lost in an entertaining final to Murray shows that he can be a real force on grass.
Tsonga also beat Rafael Nadal to reach that final. Nadal may not have been 100 percent, but he was still a challenge to beat.
Although Tsonga was then beaten by Radek Stepanek in the second round at Eastbourne, he has shown great promise leading up to this year's championships. Plus, that loss may have been beneficial to Tsonga as it gave him time to rest before the Majors.
However, one doubt remains concerning the talented Frenchman: Can his masterful winners outweigh his unforced errors?
Tsonga faces a qualifier in the first round.
2. Stanislas Wawrinka
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After Wawrinka's second round exit to James Ward at Queens, the world No.14 will need to step up his game.
Wawrinka, who boasts arguably the best single-handed backhand in the game, should do well this year, despite the loss to Ward.
Wawrinka has not played since he lost at Queens, meaning he will have had time to adjust to life on the green stuff before Monday.
The Swiss player had his best performance at Wimbledon in 2009, reaching the fourth round. This year, Wawrinka has had two decent runs, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and fourth found at the French Open.
Wawrinka can continue his good run in the major events.
He faces Potito Starace in the first round.
3. Andy Roddick
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A lot of doubts still hang over whether Roddick can ever reach another Wimbledon final, let alone win the tournament.
After missing the French Open due to injury, Roddick returned to action at Queens, where he was dismantled by Andy Murray in the semifinals.
Excepting the severity of his loss to Murray, Roddick played very well at Queens, and it proved to be a very good period of preparation for the world's No. 10.
Roddick came through a tough match against Feliciano Lopez, battled past Kevin Anderson, and cruised to victory against Fernando Verdasco.
The biggest problem for Roddick is that he can no longer rely on his big serve—everyone is matching Roddick in that department. Is the American strong enough in the other areas to make an impression?
One thing we know for sure is that Roddick's loss last year to Yen Hsun Lee will drive his ambition to do better.
If he does make it to the quarterfinals and faces Murray, it will have to be another tactical battle, like 2009, and one of the best performances of Roddick's career if he plans on winning.
Roddick faces a qualifier in the first round.
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