2011 Open 13: Robin Soderling vs. Michael Llodra – Preview
Meeting a year later on the same stage, defending champion Michael Llodra meets Robin Soderling for a rematch of the 2010 Open 13 quarterfinal match on Friday as the pair
meet again in the quarterfinal round.
Ranked fourth in the world, Soderling is the top seed in Marseille this week. Going two for two on the tour so far, Soderling has enjoyed two titles wins this season including
a successful title defence.
Starting the year at the 2011 Brisbane International as the top seeded player, Soderling made it all the way to the finals without dropping a single set. Meeting defending
champion, Andy Roddick in the finals, Soderling defeated the American in straight sets to start the year on a high note. The title win bumped Soderling up one place in the ranking as he now occupied the fourth position.
Two weeks later, Soderling was playing at the opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open as the fourth seed. Extending his match winning streak to eight games, the Swede made
his way into the fourth round. However, pitted against the rising Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, Soderling was ousted from the event.
Returning to the tour last week, Soderling played at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. A top seed in the main draw, Soderling was the defending champion.
Soderling made his way into the quarterfinals enjoying wins against Robin Haase and Philipp Petzschner. Meeting Mikhail Youzhny in the rematch of the 2010 Rotterdam final, Soderling defeated the Russian in straight sets. He moved on ahead to dismiss Viktor
Troicki in the semis before doing away with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final to successfully defend his title.
A runner up here on his debut run in 2004, Soderling is playing in his fifth year here. A top seed here this week, Soderling played his first match against local wildcard
entrant, Nicolas Mahut. Dismissing the French in straight, yet extremely close, sets Soderling was able to move into his fifth straight quarterfinal here. Standing on a six match winning streak again in the season, Soderling looks to extend his winning streak
while he moves toward a three for three in the season.
Playing Llodra for the fourth time on the career, Soderling trails the career head to head 1-2. The pair had last met in the semi-final of the Paris Masters last year Soderling
had defeated Llodra then enroute to his title win which was also against a Frenchman, Gael Monfils. Surely the Swede knows how to counter the crowd support his opponent enjoys.
Ranked 23rd in the world, Llodra is playing only in his second tour so far. Starting the tour at Rotterdam last week, Llodra failed to move past the second round
as he lost to eventual runner up and compatriot, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
A defending champion here, Llodra is playing in his sixth year here. Debuting in 2005, Llodra’s lucky break came in 2009 when he made it all the way to the finals before
losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. However, returning the next year Llodra clinched a title win here after defeating Julien Benneteau. Looking to defend his title here, Llodra started the week playing Benneteau. Defeating his compatriot, Llodra moved on to play
Tobias Kamke. The former moved into the quarterfinal after doing away with the German in straight sets.
Prediction:
Though Llodra might lead the head-to-head and enjoy the home court advantage, the fact remains that Soderling has defeated the Frenchman before and is on a lucky roll so far in the season. Coupled with the higher ranking, Soderling has considerable
odds in his favour. Though one thing for sure, is that the match will definitely not be over in straight sets.
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