U.S. Open Insider – Don’t Sleep on these guys

U.S. OPEN – CAN SOMEONE COME FROM THE FRINGE?

Who might be able to pull a minor surprise at the Open? Let’s look at some players who are outside the top ten seeds who could make some impact – or maybe not – in the U.S. Open, which started today from Flushing Meadows. The BetOnline tennis odds on these players is next to their name, and the tournament seed is in parentheses.

(11) Fernando Gonzalez +8000

– Current Ranking: 11, Highest Ranking: 5

Gonzalez has some power in the right forehand, and when he’s on he’s tough to deal with. This 2008 Olympic silver medalist as far as a final in one Grand Slam tourney, losing to Roger Federer in the 2007 Australian Open. He’s made it to the quarter-finals at least once in every Slam. This year he reached the semis of the French. At Flushing Meadow he got to the quarters in 2002, but has been stopped short of that every year since.

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(12) Robin Soderling +6500

– Current Ranking: 12, Highest Ranking: 11

Soderling has not had a bad year. He won the fourth tournament of his career, a clay court event in Sweden, and in Slams he has done pretty well, getting to the fourth round at Wimbledon and surging to the finals of the French Open, ending Rafael Nadal’s 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros before losing to Federer.

(13) Gael Monfils +10000

– Current Ranking: 13, Highest Ranking: 9

Monfils has won only one event on tour, back in 2005. He made the semis at Roland Garros last year and then got to the fourth round of the U.S. Open.

(16) Marin Cilic +8000

– Current Ranking: 17, Highest Ranking: 13

Cilic has won three titles in his career, but has yet to break through to a semi-final in a Grand Slam tournament. He failed to qualify for the U.S. Open’s main draw in ’06 or ’07, but did get to the third round last year, after beating Novak Djokovic.

(17) Tomas Berdych +12500

– Current Ranking: 18, Highest Ranking: 9

Berdych is a winner of five tour events, but only one of them has been on a hard court. He’s had some success in Slams, making it to the fourth round ten times, with a quarter-final at Wimbledon in 2007. At Flushing Meadow he has reached the fourth round three times, but was eliminated in the first round last year.

(18) David Ferrer +15000

– Current Ranking: 19, Highest Ranking: 4

Ferrer is a winner of seven singles titles, two of them on hard courts. His career record in Grand Slams is 48-26. He made the semi-finals at Flushing Meadow in 2007, and beat Rafael Nadal along the way.

(19) Stanislas Wawrinka +15000

– Current Ranking: 20, Highest Ranking: 9

His only career win came in Croatia three years ago on clay. Wawrinka doesn’t have any semi-final results in Slams to his credit, but he has made it to the fourth round of the U.S. Open the last two years.

(20) Tommy Haas +8000

– Current Ranking: 21, Highest Ranking: 2

Haas has won twelve career tournaments, beating the likes of Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick to win those events. He won a grass court event in Germany in June, beating Novak Djokovic. He has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open three times, and was a shocking semi-finalist at Wimbledon this year before losing to Roger Federer. He’s never been beyond the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open.

(21) James Blake +10000

– Current Ranking: 22, Highest Ranking: 4

Blake has won ten tournaments, and all of them have been on hard courts. He hasn’t been particularly strong in the Slams; the best result he’s had is a quarterfinal. He’s actually done that twice at Flushing Meadow – in 2005 and 2006.

(22) Sam Querrey +15000

– Current Ranking: 23, Highest Ranking: 23

About seven months after turning pro, Querrey made it to the third round of the Australian Open. He also made it to the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open. He won the L.A. Tennis Open this year and is expected to have a breakout sooner or later.

(25) Mardy Fish +15000

– Current Ranking: 26, Highest Ranking: 17

Fish, a three-time winner on tour, has won a silver medal in the Olympics but has reached the quarter-finals of Grand Slams only twice- at the Australian Open in 2007 and the U.S. Open last year. That was the only time he had been beyond two rounds at Flushing Meadow.