With Wimbledon coming to an end, all eyes will now fall on the 2016 Summer Olympics which will be held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
At the Men’s Singles tournament, the Big Four of Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal will definitely be one of the top contenders for a place in the podium. However, in the past few years, a number of players have emerged who, at a number of times have proved that they are more than a match for the Big Four and have often pulled off victories over the famed quartet.
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The absence of the likes of Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic owing to Zika fears doesn’t make the path smooth for the Big Four as there are quite a few players who can give them a tough challenge. Here are 5 such players to look out for in the Olympics.
#1. Stan Wawrinka
The first name that comes to our mind following the Big Four is the 31-year old Swiss who is ranked fifth in the world just behind Rafael Nadal. Wawrinka is the only player outside the famed quartet who has won two Grand Slams in the last eleven years, winning the Australian Open and the French Open in 2014 and 2015 respectively.2016 hasn’t been a very eventful year for Wawrinka as apart from a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros, his performances have not been very convincing. Wimbledon turned out to be a huge disappointment for Wimbledon as he bowed out in the second round against Juan Martin Del Potro.Rio 2016 will be Wawrinka’s third appearance at the Olympics after 2008 and 2012. Wawrinka’s singles performance at the Olympics has been poor so far as he exited in the first and second rounds at Beijing and London respectively. However, this year is bound to be much better as Wawrinka has been in sensational form in the last two years and through his big serve, offensive play and powerful backhand has been a very tough player to beat.The tournament will be held on hard courts, one of Wawrinka’s favorite surfaces – and also the same surface on which he won his first Grand Slam.
The Swiss has a 63% win percentage at hard courts overall and has won 15 out of his 19 matches in hard courts this year. If he can be at top of his game then Wawrinka could win his second Olympic medal after having won the gold medal in the Doubles tournament of the 2008 Beijing Olympics alongside Roger Federer.
#2. Kei Nishikori
The 26-year old has been one of the most promising players in recent times, and the only Japanese male tennis player to reach the top 10 of the ATP rankings.
The World No.6 has so far had a decent year with a runner-up finish at the Miami, semi-final finishes at the Madrid Open and the Italian Open in addition to making it to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells and the Australian Open. He has had an overall decent performance in the other Grand Slams with fourth round finishes at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.Nishikori will be playing at his third Olympics in Rio and will be looking to better his quarter-final finish at London where he beat then fourth seeded David Ferrer in the third round before losing to eventual bronze medallist Juan Martin Del Potro. Nishikori is a versatile player with solid shots on both wings in addition to strong ground strokes and return strokes which has seldom fetched him winners against tough opponents.
Out of Nishikori’s 6 victories against the Big Four, five have come on hard courts where the tournament will be held.
It was also on this surface that Nishikori reached the final of the 2014 US Open before losing to Marin Cilic. Nishikori’s form has been somewhat consistent this year and if he can continue his form then he would well be a player to be wary of and may be hand Japan their first Olympics medal in tennis since 1920.
#3. Jo Wilfried Tsonga
The tall Frenchman first rose to fame on making the final of the 2008 Australian Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic and has been one of the best players beyond the Big Four ever since. Tsonga will be a dark horse ahead of the Olympics and will be looking to be the first male French tennis player to win a singles medal since Arnaud Di Pasquale in 2000.The current World No.10 had a decent outing at the London Olympics where he reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual semifinalist Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Expectations will be high from the offensive baseliner mainly because of his good performance at hard courts where he reached his only Grand Slam Final till date and has won 14 of his 18 wins against the Big Four; not to forget his good showing at Wimbledon where he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Andy Murray in five sets.Tsonga’s fast serve combined with his solid groundstrokes makes him a very dangerous opponent and he will be relying on these strengths to put up a good showing at Rio 2016 and add to his silver medal which he earned in the doubles tournament of the London Olympics.
#4. Marin Cilic
The Croat has surely been his country’s best tennis player since the playing days of his current coach Goran Ivanisevic. Ever since returning from a suspension in 2014, Cilic has been playing some of the best tennis of his career which includes winning the 2014 US Open and three consecutive quarter-finals at the Wimbledon with the most recent one witnessing him put up a tough fight against Roger Federer before losing in five sets.The 6ft 6in Croat’s Olympics hasn’t been very good as he has been shown the door in the second round in his previous two appearances at the Olympics at Beijing and London. However, Cilic’s form has improved a lot in the last four years and he will surely be a player to look out for at Rio and will be looking to eclipse or even better his coach’s performance at Barcelona in 1992 where he won the bronze medal.Out of the World No. 12’s 14 ATP singles titles, 12 of them have come at hard courts and all four of his wins against the Big Four have come at hard courts in addition to his only Grand Slam title. Hence, Cilic will surely be a player to be wary of and is bound to give the likes of Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal a run for their money.
#5. Juan Martin Del Potro
The inclusion of the 27-year old Argentine in this list might raise a few eyebrows but given the fact that he has risen 898 places in the rankings in five months since returning back from a wrist injury that ruled him out of the sport for nearly two years, the World No. 144 could be expected to produce an upset or two.He has already beaten a number of higher ranked players since his return which includes a victory over fourth seeded Stanislas Wawrinka at Wimbledon a few weeks earlier. Besides, this isn’t the first time Del Potro has made a comeback from an injury as a previous wrist injury in 2010 saw him move down to 485 in the rankings but he made a stunning comeback in 2011 and ended the year ranked 11th.The big-serving Argentine has a 14-39 record against all members of the Big Four and 12 of those 14 victories have come at hard courts including the win over Roger Federer at the 2009 US Open Final which gave him his first Grand Slam Title. Del Potro won the bronze medal at the London Olympics, beating Novak Djokovic in the bronze medal play-off.
Del Potro might not be able to replicate his form of 2012 but given his quick rise in the rankings, we could expect him to be a dark horse at Rio.
