OK, folks, Roland Garros is getting nearer and nearer now - Nadal looking the hot favourite, Federer a slightly less hot favourite, and Djokovic and Canas looking decent bets to go far.

But who will be the most dangerous UNSEEDED players in the draw?

I've had a look at the rankings, and noticed a few interesting players...

KOHLSCHREIBER - great form now, but he's probably done enough to be ranked high enough to be seeded.

MOYA - another player who may actually just be ranked high enough to be seeded. Great flair and class, can still produce some good tennis on his day

VERDASCO - Makes claycourt tennis fun - goes for lots of winners, and capable of beating the lower seeded players.

ALMAGRO - currently losing to Federer, but surely the young Spaniard can improve on his disappointing 2nd round exit of last year at Roland Garros.

MONFILS - has battled with injuries and patchy form, but he can play on clay, and responds well to the French crowd. May even go further than Gasquet.

MONACO - after winning the Buenos Aires title has gone a bit quiet this year - but capable of sparking into form and making a good run at Roland Garros.

DEL POTRO - the young Argentinian has been unlucky with injuries so far in his short ATP career. This year may be a bit too soon for him to have a great year at Roland Garros, but he's one to watch nevertheless.

KUERTEN - Lets hope he's fit enough to play and receives a wildcard. The glory days are long behind him, but he's still capable of pulling together a shock victory in first couple of rounds.

of all those you mentioned, i'd go with verdasco. seems to have the patience and discipline needed to grind out match wins on clay. almagro maybe. but the likes of moya and kuerten have seen their day...

will PHM be seeded?

doubtful.

Mathieu of course is another notable player not seeded - I'm not sure he can repeat his heroics of last year though, and neither will Benneteau in my opinion. Monfils I reckon can do well though.

monfils' form as of late has been dreadful. that might be compounded by playing in front of the (notorious) home crowds.

Del Potro is an excellent young clay court prospect.

I think he's better on faster surfaces, unexpectedly for a South American, I know. His big serve is one of his weapons, and he's had equal or better results off clay so far in his recent rise in the rankings, most notably reaching the SFs in Adelaide and the R16 in Miami. Also he retired both in the Rome qualifying rounds and a fortnight ago in Barcelona, which might indicate some sort of fitness issue that mightn't clear itself up before then. Still he's worth keeping an eye on as you say.

At No 37 on the heels of his Casablanca title, Mathieu is within striking distance of a seeding. He had to pull out of his Estoril SF and I don't know if he'll have time to pick up points, however. Even (or perhaps especially) unseeded I think he will be a potentially dangerous element in the draw, certainly more than, say, Monfils or Benneteau.

Monaco has actually made the quarters of his past two events, so he hasn't entirely disappeared as the lead post suggests. He made some noise by reaching the round of 16 at RG last year, and was up two sets to none against Ljubicic (the only remaining seed of the quarter) before faltering in his bid for an upset which could have seen him as a shock semifinalist with only the then-unheralded Benneteau left to face--and he's much improved since then, so I think he may be a factor as well.

I'm going to throw Simon's name into the mix as one that hasn't been mentioned. Apart from a home advantage, he's been playing very well lately and impressed me in his match against Murray, demonstrating some smart, patient clay court tactics in how he constructed his points and defended himself in rallies. He might have the potential for an upset or two at RG.

Agree with your post Manzi.

Well both Verdasco and Monfils have both been dangerously eliminated!

I reckon Volandri might be included now.. :whistle:

shock defeat..

Moya and Kohly will probably be seeded. Volandri and Almagro are possible as well.

Another Argentine, Acasuso, could be dangerous, and perhaps even Karlovic.

Not sure about Karlovic - I saw him last year in 1st round at Roland Garros, and he played well against one of the French wildcards - however, clay is a surface where his backhand really gets exposed. He's fun to watch on clay, but the vast majority of top 20 players should be able to handle him on the red stuff.

nicolas massu and gaston gaudio are totally capable of commendable results on clay.

That was true.....I am not sure that is still the case. ;)

Besides PHM and other Frenchmen carried away by the crowd, I honestly do not see any non seeded player doing a dramatic impact at the French. I have difficuty in fact seeing anyone besides the top 2 being really serious pretenders.

Before Hamburg however I ranked Davydenko, Hewitt, Blake, Nalby, potential dangerous "uncontrollable" players for the top 2 seeds. Maybe Djoko shoud be added and an in-form Gasquet. The rest (Ferrer, Ferrero, Moya and other Robredos) can be good steady players but won't have what it takes to create an upset.

Well, Andy Murray and Tommy Haas as well as Mario Ancic pulling out of Roland Garros means that the following players will no longer be unseeded:

Malisse
Volandri
Benneteau

Almagro currently looking the most dangerous unseeded player as things stand.

Oh, and just to clarify on the premise for this topic - I'm looking at dangerous unseeded players mainly in terms of early upsets (I v much enjoy the long journey, and all the sub-stories there are on the way to the slam final rather than just the closing stages themselves), and maybe just possibly in terms of a surprise quarter-finalist or semi-finalist.

Mathieu is also dangerous - although he's inconsistent, he thrived well in front of the crowd last year and is capable of playing some brilliant if flashy tennis.

will fabrice santoro be taking part in singles??...certainly he's capable of an upset on the red dirt.

I'm going to float the name of Acasuso as another potential upset threat.

He went from No 32 in the rankings (which would have seen him seeded) to outside the Top 40 when his Hamburg semi points dropped off. He's too inconsistent to go more than a few rounds into the Slam but he's not a player many would fancy facing in the opening round, I'd imagine. Seems to be in decent form having won all his matches in Düsseldorf this week, as well.

:devil: An upset will be great for the tournament....... just to open it up or turn it upside down...... that would be the highlight for me.....

another scenario will be if FEderer plays someone easy at the final and wins ...

and Nadal also goes on to win Wimbledon..... :) just make my year...

alas...wishful thinking.........

well, 4 unseeded players made the 4th round...

monaco
bjorkman
verdasco
andreev

monaco just lost to canas and the other 3 are all capable of winning their round of 16 matches. and all 4 are in the bottom half of the draw with rafa :rolleyes:

When I first saw the draw, I thought like a few of us, that Rafa's draw was the toughest but with the early departure of Soderling, Berdych and others, I can only see Hewitt as a the sole trouble maker now....till the final that is.

yes, roger should make big trouble in the final ;)