US Open Tennis 2011: Top 10 Sleepers To Watch for This Year

While U.S. Open favorites like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams exist for a reason, they are by no means the only players that can make noise at Flushing Meadows.

These 10 men and women may fly under the radar a bit, but they still have a shot to accomplish a lot in the tennis season's last Grand Slam event.

For the record, I've included four men and six women. There are more of the latter because I feel as though the women's side of the tournament is significantly more wide open.

From a highly ranked American man to an up and coming German woman, read on for the 10 biggest sleepers at the 2011 U.S. Open. 

Mardy Fish

I know it's common knowledge that an American male can't possibly contend at the U.S. Open (or at least it seems that way), but Mardy Fish is going to prove to be the exception to the rule at Flushing Meadows this year. 

Currently the No. 8 player in the world, this right-hander from Beverly Hills has proven in recent weeks that he belongs in the discussion with the rest of the big guns. 

Fish has always been best on hard courts and could shock a lot of people at this year's tournament. 

Since an exit from Wimbledon in the quarterfinals, Fish has taken home the title at the Atlanta Tennis Championships, lost in the finals at both the Farmers Classic and the Rogers Cup and taken down Rafael Nadal en route to a semifinal loss at the hands of eventual champion Andy Murray at the Western & Southern Open. 

He's riding a surge of momentum, one that should carry him well into the upcoming tournament.

If you're going to say that Fish isn't a "sleeper," here's what I have to say about that: he's male and not named Roger Federer, Nadal, Murray or Novak Djokovic. That pretty much qualifies him as a sleeper.  

Ernests Gulbis

While Ernests Gulbis doesn't have the game yet to endure the rigorous opponents and weather of the U.S. Open, he has enough tennis skill to upset a few of the higher ranked players. 

The 22-year-old Latvian made it to the fourth round in Flushing Meadows back in 2007 but has since failed to make it past the second round. In fact, Gulbis is coming off back-to-back first-round exits at the U.S. Open. 

So, why is he a sleeper? 

Well, Gulbis has show tremendous improvement this season and has played quite well of late. He achieved his career high in the rankings at No. 21 back in February and is currently coming in at No. 48. 

After four straight one-and-dones at tournaments, including both the French Open and Wimbledon, Gulbis has hung with the top guns in his past two events. First, at the Farmers Classic, Gulbis took home the title after victories over Juan Martin del Potro and Mardy Fish among others. In the next event he entered, the Rogers Cup, Gulbis allowed Fish to get his revenge in a three-set third-round loss. 

To be fair, the man with the winning personality did endure a first-round exit at the Western & Southern Open after a three-set match against 33rd-ranked Ivan Dodig, but he's going to be looking to bounce back in a big way at the U.S. Open. 

Christina McHale

Christina McHale has never made it past the second round at the U.S. Open, but that's going to change this year for the 19-year-old New Jersey native. 

McHale is having a season to remember as she climbs up the women's world rankings, in which she currently rests at No. 66. She won the first singles title of her career in Italy back in June, but has had some success stateside as well. 

Notable players that McHale has toppled this season include Svetlana Kuznetsova, Daniela Hantuchova and none other than current world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. The win over Wozniacki came in Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Open and should be fresh in her mind when she makes her way to Flushing Meadows. 

Shuai Peng

Shuai Peng may not have the most glamorous tennis game, but she has ridiculous levels of endurance, which could play a major part in her chances of success at the U.S. Open. 

Peng is currently ranked No. 14 in the world, which happens to be the best such number in her entire career. Although she has not yet won a title, she has been to four finals and is always looking to add that first trophy to her mantle. 

Will it come at Flushing Meadows? No, probably not. But she has the potential to make some noise and ruin the chances of some highly ranked players. 

Peng has been injured quite a bit lately, even withdrawing from her most recent tournament with a cited hip injury. I have yet to hear any sort of update about her injury, but she qualifies for sleeper status under the condition that she is fully healed up and ready to go when the tournament begins. 

Andrea Petkovic

Even though Andrea Petkovic can fall back to simply pushing the ball, she has a great all-around game, one that should help her advance quite far into this year's U.S. Open. After all, Petkovic has played her best tennis in recent times and she usually performs well in the Grand Slam events. 

Petkovic has two singles titles this year and is coming off a good showing at the Western & Southern Open where she lost to Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals. 

Now ranked just outside the Top 10 players in the world, the 23-year-old German should be able to improve upon her career-best finish at Flushing Meadows, a fourth-round appearance two years ago. 

Agnieszka Radwanska

Currently the No. 12 player in the women's rankings, Agnieszka Radwanska has quite a lot going in her favor. She's a very cerebral player with enough youth and speed to go far, both on the court and in the tournament.

Radwanska played quite well since the season's last Grand Slam event with the exception of her most recent tournament. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic to Sabine Lisicki then won the Mercury Insurance Open after beating Christina McHale, Daniela Hantuchova Andrea Petkovic and Vera Zvonareva.

After that, the young Polish woman lost a three-set battle to Samantha Stosur in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup and then endured a harsh loss to Petra Cetkovska in the second round of her most recent tournament.

Radwanska unquestionably has the talent to win this tournament, but she'll have to overcome the mental issues that have plagued her in the past in order to do so.  

Gilles Simon

12 must be a lucky number for U.S. Open sleepers. Just like Agnieszka Radwanska on the previous slide was ranked No. 12 in the world for her gender, so too is Gilles Simon for his. 

Simon has already won two ATP tournaments this year. First was the Sydney International where he swept through the field without losing a set. Then in Hamburg he had a much tougher time, but still came home with another title.

A mental player for whom there's a significant difference in play when he's confident, Simon is going to have to bounce back from a quarterfinal loss to Andy Murray in the Western & Southern Open if he's going to be successful.

With his powerful backhand and fundamental play, Simon could make some noise here and improve upon his career-best showings, third-round flameouts in 2008, 2009 and 2010.  

Samantha Stosur

The hard-serving Aussie is currently No. 10 in the women's rankings and she always seems to play some of her best tennis during the biggest events, even though this year that pattern has not exactly held true. 

Samantha Stosur actually has yet to make it past the third round in any of this year's Grand Slam events, which include a first-round loss to Melinda Czink at Wimbledon. But that could become motivation for the 27-year-old who surely won't want this entire year to be remembered as a disappointment. 

Stosur made it to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open last season before losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters in three sets. Fortunately for Stosur and the rest of the field, Clijsters will not have a chance to defend her title.

If she can keep her backhand looking strong on a consistent basis, Stosur could be a player to watch out for in Flushing Meadows.  

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

The current world No. 11, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made it all the way to the 2008 Australian Open final before losing to Novak Djokovic. Since then, he has yet to make it back to the biggest stage at any of the four Grand Slams.

He did come close already this season. The 26-year-old Frenchman enjoyed Wimbledon quite a bit this year, knocking out Roger Federer in the quarterfinals despite dropping the first two sets and then losing to Novak Djokovic in a hotly contested four-set match.

Clearly, Tsonga can play with the best players in the world.  

Roberta Vinci

Roberta Vinci, a 28-year-old veteran from Italy, is probably the biggest stretch on this list despite the fact that she's ranked 19th in the world. 

While she has already won three WTA titles this season alone, Vinci has been consistently unspectacular in her Grand Slam appearances. For example, she's never made it past the third round at Wimbledon, but she's made it to the third round on three separate occasions: 2005, 2009 and 2011. 

Vinci has actually never even been to the third round in Flushing Meadows, but that will change this season. After all, she's been in very good form lately. 

At the Rogers Cup, she played inspired tennis, knocking out Yanina Wickmayer, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic before losing to Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. While she's lost early in both of her past two tournaments, that can be excused because she ran into high quality opponents quite early. The first loss was to world No. 25 Nadia Petrova and the second was to world No. 18 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. 

With a good draw, Vinci has the consistency and skill to make a little bit of noise. 

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Adam Fromal is a syndicated writer and Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on  Twitter.