2010 PNB Paribas Masters: Swede Robin Soderling clinches first ever Masters title defeating local Gael Monfils
Seeded no. 4 at the 2010 PNB Paribas Masters, Sweden's Robin Soderling annihilated Frenchman Gael Monfils to take his first ever Masters title. Soderling initiated the match with a 6-1 win and brought the two set tussle to an end with a fore-hand volley, taking
the second set 7-6.
Additionally, Soderling came to be the first ever Swede to win a Masters 1000 tournament since Thomas Enqvist at Cincinnati in the year 2000. The professional will skip past Britain's Andy Murray to reach a career-high ranking of no. 4. All through the match,
Robin made the most of his power serves. Soderling cracked nine aces and did not face a single break point.
Prior to facing Robin, Monfils got through with Switzerland's Roger Federer. The two remained evenly contested throughout the match. It was however Monfils who came out victorious, taking the match based upon his 7-6, 6-7 and 7-6 win.
Meanwhile, the Swede eliminated Frenchman Michael Llodra in the semi-final match played between the two. Llodra got off to a good start taking the first set 7-6. That seemed to have been all he had to offer as Robin took the second set 7-5 and the deciding
third set 7-6 to proceed at the tournament.
Earlier, Llodra got through with Russia's Nikolay Davydenko beating him 7-5 and 6-1. America's Andy Roddick faced defeat at the hands of Soderling as he was beaten 7-5 and 6-4 in the semi-finals of the championship. Roddick made it through upon defeating Latvia's
Ernests Gulbis 6-3 and 7-6.
Soderling battled it out against Swiss man Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round of the 2010 PNB Paribas Masters. Wawrinka lost a disappointing 7-6 and 6-3 to be sent home. Wawrinka defeated Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in the second round taking the match based
on a 6-4, 6-4 straight set win.
Receiving a bye into the second round, Robin was opposed by Gilles Simon of France. The Swede instantly exercised his authority on the match taking the first set 6-4 and the following set 6-0 to proceed at the tournament. Simon went head to head with Kazakhstan's
Andrey Golubev beating him 3-6, 6-4 and 6-3 to face Soderling in the second round.
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