Going a bit old school on this one.
My old Half-Life clan used to hold a 1v1 Tournement every year.
The first year I participated (I was still pretty nub) I got my *** handed to me in the second round.
The next year, I kicked *** and won the whole thing flawlessly, against a lot of players who thought they had me beat easily, and I was a complete underdog. Ah, good times.