2016 US Open: Top 5 dark horses for the Men's Singles Tournament
It’s only a matter of hours now before the US Open gets underway and all the players will be looking forward to put up a good showing at the final Grand Slam of the year. A couple of days ago, the draw came out which featured more than just a few thrilling matchups. In my previous article, I had discussed about the favorites for the Men’s singles tournament.
However, when there is a favorite, there is bound to be a dark horse or in this tournament, quite a few given the amount of upsets that have been caused in the last couple of tournaments. With all the players gearing up for the year’s final major, let’s take a look at five of the dark horses for the Men’s Singles tournament at the US Open.
#5. Dominic Thiem
The 22-year old Austrian has had the best year of his career so far, having won four titles in addition to reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros which also helped him enter the Top 10 for the first time in his career. His good run of form has helped him beat the likes of Rafael Nadal (at clay) and Roger Federer.
The eighth-seed will be one of the dark horses for the tournament as given his current form, he could be more than a match for the likes of Murray and Djokovic. Thiem is in section 6 of the draw which will pit him up against last year’s semi-finalist Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals provided he reaches there.
Thiem is bound to have an easy path till the fourth round where he will possibly meet either one of 2009 Champion Juan Martin Del Potro and two-time semi-finalist David Ferrer, with Delpo being the most likely option given Ferrer’s recent drop in form. Nevertheless, Thiem will be expected to at least better his third round finish from last year and will be one of the players to watch out for.