Its that time of year again, Wimbledon has rolled around and has already sprung up a surprise or two on its 1st day. Defending champion Roger Federer, after cruising through to a straight sets victory on centre court yesterday, will be hoping to mount a respectable defense of his title. While Andy Murray, Britains great hope, followed Federers example with a comfortable straight sets victory over Benjamin Becker. While the talk of Wimbledon will inevitably fall on the worlds top players, what of the ranked outsiders, those who could easily fall at the 1st hurdle yet could also spring an upset. Everyone loves an underdog and there is no greater stage than Wimbledon for that to hold true. A perfect example is that of Goran Ivanisevic, who back in 2001 and ranked 125 won Wimbledon despite needing a wildcard for to enter. It can happen. Realistically however, its incredibly hard to see past one of the top 4 taking the biggest prize in tennis, but with a few shock results on the opening day of the Wimbledon championships, most notably Steve Darcis, ranked 135th in the world, defeating 2-time winner Rafael Nadal, it proves that anyone on their day can beat anybody. For this list, I will only be including male tennis players. So here are 5 underdogs to watch out for over the next 2 weeks of Wimbledon.
5. Juan Martin del Potro
It may seem slightly ridiculous to place the world number 8 as an underdog but after surgery on a wrist and a series of other niggling injuries, Del Potro isnt expected to produce anything near his US Open winning form. After losing to Lleyton Hewitt in the quarter-finals at Queens, this expectation may hold true of Del Potro, but on his day he can beat the best. Back in 2009, he beat Roger Federer in the US Open final and while he has since struggled to replicate this form it is surely only a matter of time, injury permitted, that he achieves this. The positives to come from Del Potro is this lack of expectation, no one really expects him to progress too far into the tournament, but his record at Wimbledon isnt too bad, reaching the 4th round twice, in 2011 and 2012. Also, after taking Bronze at the London Olympics at Wimbledon last year, defeating world number 1 Novak Djokovic in the bronze medal match, Del Potro will be hoping he can take inspiration from 12 months ago and progress deep into the 2nd week.