With five Argentinian men in the last 32 of the US Open, you could have been forgiven for thinking that they were playing on clay! But that's not the case. The South American country is producing some of the best all-court players in the world at the moment.  Could this be the year that Argentina has a US Open finalist for the first time since Guillermo Vilas in the 1970s? Let's have a closer look at the five players in question.

David Nalbandian is an all-court player and has a proven record in major events, with an appearance in the 2002 Wimbledon final. The former world No.3 has had an inconsistent year, but still had a good win over Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the last round. The 25-year-old has earned over $7 million in prize money in his career but his lack of match practice coming into these championships may be a cause for concern.

Agustin Calleri is one of the veterans of the Argentinian team. Calleri is definitely a clay-court specialist,. However, he caused a major upset in the second round with his victory over former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, showing he clearly can play on the US hard courts. Calleri also took the in-form James Blake to three sets in New Haven last week before Blake went on to win the tournament. 

Juan Ignacio Chela, at 28, has had somewhat of a resurgence in his career over the last few years. He has shown he can mix it with the best on the hard courts with two quarter-final appearances in the Masters Series events, at Miami and Indian Wells earlier this year. He is one of the most consistent players on the tour and could cause a few upsets as long as he stays mentally strong.

Lastly, the two future stars of Argentina: Juan Monaco, at 23, has seen a vast improvement in his game over the last year, reaching a career high of 23 in the world just last week.  In recent weeks on the US hard-court series, Monaco has excellent wins over Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco, showing he's a player in form and confident in his game. Juan Martin del Potro is Argentina's youngest star in the making at only 18 years of age.  He is seen as many as a potential top five player, and looks set to challenge Nadal and Novak Djokovic in tournaments to come.  A tall athlete at 6ft 5in, Del Potro has a powerful serve and all-court game.

So Argentina, as you can see, are out in force in Flushing Meadows.  They may not win the event this year with the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Djokovic and Nadal in their way, but the potential and determination are there for all to see.  With competition between fellow countrymen so strong, they may just spur each other on to success.