Australian Open 2017: 8 Patchy Players Who Could Surprise You

#4. Gael Monfils

Monfils has been drawn in a tough Section at the Australian Open but he can never be written off

The Frenchman has produced a number of stellar performances throughout his career so far but has not done much to justify his talent as he has gone through a number of inconsistent periods. Monfils had a decent ATP World Tour last year where he reached his second Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open and a career-high ranking of World No.6.Monfils’ Australian Open performances haven’t been very good compared to his performances in French and US Opens with his best performance coming last year when he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Milos Raonic in four sets. Monfils will be playing his first tournament of 2017 at the Australian Open and hasn’t been handed the easiest of draws.Monfils will begin his Australian Open campaign against Czech Jiri Vesely who beat him the second round of Wimbledon in 2014. The players he might probably face in the second and third rounds would be Borna Coric and Philipp Kohlschreiber. However, his toughest battle will come in the fourth round where he might face Rafael Nadal or even 19-year old Alexander Zverev. While Nadal has been looking in good shape lately, Alexander Zverev is beginning to gradually elevate his game as he registered his second victory over Roger Federer during the Hopman Cup.There’s little probability of Monfils reaching his second Australian Open quarter-final this year but having played consistently last year, Monfils could still produce an upset or two.