2010 Valencia Open 500: Swede Robin Soderling cruises through to semi-finals
It came as no surprise that Sweden's Robin Soderling made his way up to the semi-finals of the 2010 Valencia Open 500. Seeded no. 2 at the tournament, Soderling eliminated Frenchman Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals of his draw to advance to the next round.
The no. 8 seed lost a disappointing 3-6 and 2-6, to be sent home. Earlier, Monfils got rid of Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of his draw to face Robin in the quarters. Wawrinka's reign was ended just as Gael took the match based upon his
6-2 and 6-4, straight set win.
Furthermore, Soderling will be opposed by Spain's David Ferrer in the semi-finals of his draw. Ferrer deleted Italy's Potito Starace in the quarter-final match played between the two. In spite of going nip and tuck in the first set, the unseeded Italian was
beaten 7-5. Additionally, David went on to take the second set 6-4 to be put through to the next round.
Starace battled it out against Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas prior to facing Ferrer in the quarter-finals. The two remained evenly contested in the first set, it was nevertheless Potito who came out victorious, taking the set 7-6. Pablo responded with a 6-2 win in
the second set but it was Cuevas who bagged the decider based upon his 6-2 win.
Soderling annihilated Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the second round of his draw. The Swede got off to a good start, taking the first set 6-2. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, his reign was ended just as Robin proceeded to take the second set 6-3 to make it
through to the next round.
Earlier, in an all Spanish tussle, Gimeno-Traver defeated compatriot, Nicolas Almagro. Daniel took the first set 6-4, shortly after which Almagro bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second set. However, in a reverse of fortune, Nicolas lost the deciding third
set 3-6 to be eliminated from the tournament. Meanwhile, Robin got rid of Spain's Albert Montanes in his first round match. The Spaniard was beaten 1-6 and 4-6, two sets in a row.
Additionally, if Soderling triumphs over David Ferrer, he will either be faced by Lucky Loser, Spain's Marcel Granollers or Frenchman Gilles Simon in the Men's singles final of the 2010 Valencia Open 500.
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