The French Open is coming very soon and I decided to give my opinion on players that may provide great value and on the contrary, players who are overvalued and will provide opportunities for fading. In my opinion, the best value comes from players that are less known to the public, but nonetheless possess amazing potential. Usually, those are either the young stars that still haven't made an impact on the pro tour, or players who have just finished their college career. So, I will start with the less known players that are likely to make it through qualifications and leave a trait in the main draw:
Frederico Del Bonis - this guy is a future top 10 in my opinion (currently ranked 151). He has done very well on the challenger tour and his favorite surface is clay. I think he is comparable to Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian in terms of talent. In my view, he will definitely make it through qualies and depending on the draw he may win a round or two in the main. Not to say a big world, but he even has the potential to go to the semies. It's been a long time since we have seen an outsider go far in the French but I think this year we will see a surprise semifinalist.
Joao Souza - Not as talented as Del Bonis, but I can definitely see him get to the top 30 (currently ranked 127). His favorite surface is clay and given the length of the clay court season this is definitely achievable. He has done very well recently and has built the confidence to make a good run in the French Open.
Robin Haase - Should have been in the top 50 by now if it wasn't for an injury that kept him off the court for more than a year. Instead, he is currently ranked 204 and must go through the qualies. He is a very good competitor that plays well on all surfaces and has wins over some of the top players, such as Berdych and Ljubicic.
Somdev Devvarman - He is the oldest of the players that I have listed but he is only in his second year on the professional tour. The reason behind this is that he was playing for the University of Virginia for four years and was not allowed to compete on the pro tour. He had an amazing college career getting to the NCAA final three times. He played with John Isner couple of times and was victorious most of the time. I believe Isner's only win over Somdev was indoors. The thing I like most about him is that he shows up for every match. He leaves his heart on the court and fights till the last point so he will never disappoint you.
I wasn't able to identify many fade opportunities in the qualies but the one that stands out is Michael Yani. He is a good hard court player but an alwful clay courter with no experience on this surface. He never plays tournaments on clay, but this week he showed up in Zagreb so that he won't be totally unprepared for the French Open.
Another overvalued player is Bernard Tomic. Many people say he is a future top 10 player, which I doubt, but even if he achieves that it won't be on points from clay court tournaments for sure. He has trouble dealing with high balls to his forehand, which inevitably turns him into a bad clay courter.
Hope my analysis was helpful. Very soon I will post a similar analysis for the main draw players, followed by analysis on the WTA.
Frederico Del Bonis - this guy is a future top 10 in my opinion (currently ranked 151). He has done very well on the challenger tour and his favorite surface is clay. I think he is comparable to Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian in terms of talent. In my view, he will definitely make it through qualies and depending on the draw he may win a round or two in the main. Not to say a big world, but he even has the potential to go to the semies. It's been a long time since we have seen an outsider go far in the French but I think this year we will see a surprise semifinalist.
Joao Souza - Not as talented as Del Bonis, but I can definitely see him get to the top 30 (currently ranked 127). His favorite surface is clay and given the length of the clay court season this is definitely achievable. He has done very well recently and has built the confidence to make a good run in the French Open.
Robin Haase - Should have been in the top 50 by now if it wasn't for an injury that kept him off the court for more than a year. Instead, he is currently ranked 204 and must go through the qualies. He is a very good competitor that plays well on all surfaces and has wins over some of the top players, such as Berdych and Ljubicic.
Somdev Devvarman - He is the oldest of the players that I have listed but he is only in his second year on the professional tour. The reason behind this is that he was playing for the University of Virginia for four years and was not allowed to compete on the pro tour. He had an amazing college career getting to the NCAA final three times. He played with John Isner couple of times and was victorious most of the time. I believe Isner's only win over Somdev was indoors. The thing I like most about him is that he shows up for every match. He leaves his heart on the court and fights till the last point so he will never disappoint you.
I wasn't able to identify many fade opportunities in the qualies but the one that stands out is Michael Yani. He is a good hard court player but an alwful clay courter with no experience on this surface. He never plays tournaments on clay, but this week he showed up in Zagreb so that he won't be totally unprepared for the French Open.
Another overvalued player is Bernard Tomic. Many people say he is a future top 10 player, which I doubt, but even if he achieves that it won't be on points from clay court tournaments for sure. He has trouble dealing with high balls to his forehand, which inevitably turns him into a bad clay courter.
Hope my analysis was helpful. Very soon I will post a similar analysis for the main draw players, followed by analysis on the WTA.
