2011 BNP Paribas Open: ATP Seeds Part IV
World Number 4 Robin Soderling
Robin Soderling is one of the highest ranked players on the Association of Tennis Professionals at the moment, ranked World Number 4 by the ATP and seeded fourth at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open. He has been playing for almost ten years now, having joined the
professional circuit in 2001.
This right-handed player has been participating in the Indian Wells event since 2004, only skipping the event once in 2005. He was ranked World Number 47 the first time he participated in the event, and he made it as far as the second round before falling
to Argentine then-World Number 23 Agustin Calleri. In the next year, he was an unseeded player yet again, although he extended his run to the third round before being ousted by Russian pro Igor Andreev.
Soderling’s first experience as a seeded player came in 2007, when he was ranked World Number 27. He received a bye into the second round, where he defeated Italian pro Daniele Bracciali in straight sets. His next opponent was then-World Number 5 Fernando
Gonzalez, who eliminated him in tough straight sets. By 2008, the player’s ranking slipped to World Number 39 and he was forced to participate as a main-draw entry. Once again, he only made it as far as the second round before being ousted by Frenchman Richard
Gasquet.
The Swedish pro was ranked Word Number 26 again in 2009, and received a bye into the second round. However, his run at the event was short and he was upset by then-World Number 105 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.
Soderling’s best showing at the Indian Wells event came last year, when he was ranked World Number 7. As usual, he received a bye in the first round and proceeded to an easy second round win over Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev. His next opponent was Spanish
pro Feliciano Lopez, after which he took on French then-World Number 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a straight-sets defeat.
This helped Soderling to qualify for the quarterfinals, where he faced British Number 1 Andy Murray. After defeating the player, he reached the semi-finals against American Grand Slam winner Andy Roddick. The player, who was ranked World Number 8 at that
time, managed to defeat Soderling in three sets to end his run.
This year, Soderling is expected to repeat the highly satisfactory results which he posted in 2010. His most recent tournament was the Marseille event in France, where he was once again a seeded player. He defeated players such as Nicolas Mahut, Michael
Llodra, Dmitry Tursunov and Marin Cilic at the tournament, winning the title for the event. His next match was at the Davis Cup, where he helped to lead his country to a win against Russia. Therefore, it is not a stretch to say that the player is likely to
excel once again in California this year.
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