Australian Open 2017: 8 Patchy Players Who Could Surprise You

#1. David Ferrer

Ferrer will be wanting to end his poor form at the Australian Open

For a long, long time, David Ferrer has stayed under the shadow of the likes of Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic but he has still managed to pull off a number of brilliant performances against them and has reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams with a French Open final in 2013 being his best-ever Grand Slam performance.Last year, Ferrer had a very poor and inconsistent World Tour although he did have a decent start to the year by reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. His lackluster performances resulted in his rankings falling from 8^th to 21^st. This year, Ferrer’s poor form persisted as he was ousted in the second round of the Auckland Open after losing to Dutchman Robin Hasse in three sets which led to his ranking dropping down to 23^rd.The Australian Open has been one of Ferrer’s most consistent Grand Slam tournaments in the last six years with his best performances being reaching the semi-finals in 2011 and 2013 where he was beaten by Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic respectively.This year, Ferrer has been drawn in Section 6 of the main draw and will face local wildcard Omar Jasika in the first round. Ferrer will be expected to pass the opening two rounds but will have a tough opponent in the third round in fellow countryman Roberto Bautista Agut and even if he makes it past the third round, he will probably fall in the fourth round as he would be up against last year’s semi-finalist and third seed Milos Raonic.A lot may not be expected of Ferrer prior to the tournament but having seen him bounce back from a prolonged period of decline, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise if Ferrer goes further than expected.