2011 ABN AMRO Tennis: Robin Soderling vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber - Preview
World number four, Robin Soderling continues his title defence at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Thursday as he takes on German Philipp Kohlschreiber for a spot in the final eight.
Robin kicked off the New Year with a bang as he enjoyed straight sets win against Ryan Harrison, Michael Berrer and Matthew Ebden to meet Radek Stepanek in the semi-finals of the 2011 Brisbane International. After doing away with
Stepanek, Soderling met defending champion Andy Roddick in the finals and defeated the American in straight sets to mark his first title win in 2011. The win bumped Soderling to world number four in the rankings.
Next up was the 2011 Australian Open where seeded fourth, Soderling made it all the way to the fourth round before losing to the rising Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Appearing for the fourth time at the ABN AMRO World Tennis tournament, Soderling debuted at the event in 2005. He returned to the event in 2008 in top form and after moving past Gilles Simon in the semis, the Swede paved his way
into the finals. However, pitted against Michael Llodra, Soderling lost his chance at the title as the French defeated him in a gruelling three-setter.
Determined for a win, Soderling once again made a comeback to the event in 2010. After managing to sideline Florent Serra, Igor Sijsling and Julien Benneteau, Soderling was able to make his way into the semis where he met Nikolay
Davydenko. Soderling setup a final clash with Davydenko’s compatriot, Mikhail Youzhny after defeating the Russian in straight sets. With a 1-0 lead in the set score, Soderling automatically won the title when Youzhny retired from the match citing a thigh injury.
This was the Swede’s maiden title win at an ATP 500 level event.
Soderling defeated local wildcard entrant, Robin Haase in his opening clash in the tournament as he progressed to the second round in an attempt to defend his title. In their fourth meeting on courts today, Soderling might have
his work cut out for him since the Swede has never defeated the German. Soderling trails 0-3 in the career head-to-head. The pair’s last meeting had come in 2008 at the Cincinnati Masters.
Currently ranked 36th in the world, Kohlschreiber is playing at his third tour level event for the season. Kohlschreiber started the year at the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open; however, he could not manage past the second
round after being ousted by Ivo Karlovic.
A week later, he was competing at the 2011 Heineken Open in Auckland. The German made his way into the quarterfinal, moving past Carlos Berlocq and Marcel Granollers, but faced defeat at the hands of eventual champion, David Ferrer.
Kohlschreiber suffered another second round exit when he played at the opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open, losing to Tomas Berdych.
Also playing in his fourth year here, Kohlschreiber’s career best at the event came on his debut run in 2007 when he made it all the way to the quarterfinal round before losing to Nikolay Davydenko. However, for the next two years
the German was unable to make it past the first round.
Prediction: Although Kohlschreiber currently leads the head-to-head score, Soderling’s recent form suggests that the Swede might be finally able to win one over the German. Should the match go
according to the statistical-c*m-psychological advantage that the German enjoys, we may witness another top seed upset.
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