[Jaffas85]

Between 2006 and 2008 there have been unlikely players that played great tennis to reach the final of the Australian Open.

2006 finalist: Marcos Baghdatis (ranked #54 going into the tournament).

2007 finalist: Fernando Gonzalez (ranked #9 going into the tournament).

2008 finalist and potential winner: Jo - Wilfried Tsonga (ranked #38 going into tournament).

Which of these unlikely finalists have you found were the most impressive in making the final and which one seems most likely to once again reach another Grand Slam final and why?

Thanks.

 

[dijus]

Marcos
these 5-sets-thrillers were just amazing :angel:

 

[Stensland]

the most unlikely runner-up was definitely gonzalez as he'd been around pretty long before suddenly making an impact at a slam (plus hardcourt!).

i don't think any of them will make a slam final again, but with a chance of 10% i'd say baghdatis could do it if everything works for him, including draw, spirit and form.

 

[Or Levy]

Tsonga and Baggy were young, but I think Gonzo was more shocking, because he showed levels at what? 25 years old that we've haven't seen from him before that.

 

[my0118]

I think we should take this poll after AO ends. I bet it would be Tsonga if he wins it, otherwise I would pick Baggy.

 

[supertommyhaas]

has to be tsonga

 

[Burrow]

Safin 2004, I just enjoyed that so much. Couldn't win a match at the Hopman cup out of 5 and then he goes to the final. 3 5 setters and 2 4 setters.

 

[TMJordan]

Mugdatis because he sucks.

 

[crouching]

You have to look at the runs of the other unlikely AO finalists / champions in recent memory - Enqvist, Clement, Johansson and Schuettler.

1998 - Thomas Enqvist defeated
Jan-Michael Gambill
Wayne Black
Rafter (3rd seed)
Philippoussis (14th seed)
Marc Rosset
Nicolas Lapentti
lost to Kafelnikov

2001 - Arnaud Clement (seeded 15) defeated
Tommy Robredo
Alberto Martin
Roger Federer
Greg Rusedski
Yvgeny Kafelnikov (4th seed)
Sebastien Grosjean (16th seed)
lost to Agassi

2002 Thomas Johansson (16th seed) defeated
Jacobo Diaz
Markus Hipfl
Younes El Aynaoui (21st seed)
Adrian Voinea
Jonas Bjorkman
Jiri Novak (26th seed)
Marat Safin (9th seed)

2003 - Rainer Schuettler (31st seed) defeated
Albert Portas
Richard Krajicek
Marat Safin (3rd seed, walkover)
James Blake (23rd seed)
David Nalbandian (10th seed)
Andy Roddick (9th seed, after the 21-19 match against El Aynaoui)
lost to Agassi.

 

[tennisgal_001]

Tsonga. Murray, Gasquet, Youzhny, Nadal, were all either contenders for the title (Federer aside), potential finalists, or players that many expected to peak during the second week of a Slam. JWT dominated each and every single one of them in brutal fashion and didn't allow any of them to dictate play. His run is the most impressive, not only because he made it that far, but also because of HOW he played to get to where he is.

 

[Tennis-Engineer]

I am still shocked of what Tsonga has done so far !

 

[jcempire]

Marcos Baghdatis maybe the most unlikely player to have a AO Run.

but Tsonga is going to title, If he does it, He would go all the way to No 9.

 

[Adler]

Clement, cause he defeated Federer

 

[stebs]

Baghdatis and Tsonga are pretty equal, both more unlikely than Gonzo.

Baghdatis defeated: Stepanek, Roddick, Ljubicic, Nalbandian.
Tsonga defeated: Murray, Gasquet, Youzhny, Nadal.
Gonzalez defeated: Hewitt, Blake, Nadal, Haas.

All of them beating four good players, I would probably say Gonzo had the best run in terms of players beaten, Baghdatis the most unlikely but Tsonga has maybe played even better tennis than either of them. Yes, Gonzalez had out of this world stats in his run but remember he was serving less big and wasn't hitting bi off the BH the way Tsonga is, it's a hard decision.

 

[Tommy fan]

Baghdatis and Tsonga.
Tsonga is still shocks me.. I really thought Murray would trash him in 1st round..

 

[FitDave]

All the mugs will get destroyed by Fedclown, it's the fucking same shit