One obstacle that prevents many ATP dark horses from ever reaching their potential in a tournament is the change to a best-of-five set match format. Players who are not used to playing with this lengthier format are prone to losses where they could have procured wins. Matches can quickly turn from upset opportunities into seemingly routine matches where the strong favorite prevails. At betsfreebets.com we will examine a few of the more interesting ATP players in this year's French Open at Roland Garros.

Sam Querrey has advanced his tennis career in three years to places that many members of the media never thought he could ever go. This year in particular, he has performed above expectations on his least favorite surface. Upon closer inspection of Sam's five-set record, the savvy observer will come to find that he is victorious only 40 percent of the time in matches with this format. When matches actually reach the five-set mark, the win percentage drops even further. This is not a good recipe for Sam, and while he is a constantly-improving young player, his chances of advancing to the second week of the tournament are quite small. Potito Starace is one of the likely players that can knock him out in round two in a Querrey v Starace contest.

Jurgen Melzer has the type of crafty game to give his opponents nightmares. If he plays the way that he is capable of playing on clay, he could find himself toppling big names. Unfortunately, he will most likely have to go through Spaniard David Ferrer in a Melzer v Ferrer contest to get to the quarterfinals. The proposition is a lengthy one because Melzer does not possess the kind of weapons that typically give Ferrer problems. However, if Ferrer gets off to a slow start as he often does, the door will remain wide open for a big upset.

Barring an injury, the only thing that will stop Nadal before the semifinals will be his compatriot, Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco has improved his level of concentration, especially when it comes to the bigger matches. He has performed above expectations on clay this year, and on all surfaces in general over the last six months. At the 2009 Australian Open, Verdasco took Nadal to five sets, in what turned out to be a thriller that rested on the balance of a few short points. Expect a Nadal v Verdasco matchup at the French Open to bring more of the same, in a quarterfinal battle that could exceed the expectations of throngs of observers. Should Verdasco reach the quarterfinal stage after battling past Verdasco v Kunitsyn and Verdasco v Serra, he would most likely have to play Verdasco v Gonzales or Verdasco v Almagro.

We at betsfreebets.com predict that if Verdasco can get by the likes of Florent Serra, he will be playing for the rights to the quarterfinals against Nadal.