A look at Robin Soderling’s performance in 2010
Born on 14th August 1984, Robin Bo Carl Soderling is a 26 year old professional player from Sweden. Turning pro in 2001, he has to date five titles to his name. He has, however, failed to win any Grand Slam title. The
Swede number one currently ranks fifth in the world rankings.
The year 2010 started off with a win for Soderling as he defeated Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals of the Capitala World Tennis Championship at Abu Dhabi. Soderling then went on to defeat Swiss Maestro Roger Federer
in the semifinals, after coming back from a set loss. The match score was 6-7, 7-1, 6-2. This was Soderling’s first win over Federer in 13 attempts, but it stayed out of the records on the account that it was an exhibition match. Soderling ultimately lost
the final to Spaniard Rafael Nadal 6-7, 5-7.
Seeded first in the first ATP event of the season, Soderling headed off to Chennai to compete in the 2010 Chennai Open. He was, however, knocked out of the running in the first round by Robby Ginepri from America. This was their
third meeting on the court and Soderling still led the head to head score 2-1.
Soderling met another early defeat in the Australian Open when he lost a match in the first round. Seeded eighth in the tournament, he lost to unseeded Marcel Granollers. This was the pair’s fourth meeting on the court and the
latter’s only win over the Swede.
Seeded third in the tournament, Soderling received a wild card entry in Netherlands in February. Here Soderling received his first win of the year at an ATP match when he defeated the French Florent Serra in the first round. Soderling
then went on in the tournament all the way to the final to meet Russian number one Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny retired from the game with an injury, giving Soderling his first title win of the year.
The win made him top seed in the 2010 Open 13 in Spain. However, he lost his quarterfinal match to Michael Llodra and was out of the tournament. He then lost both semi final matches at the next two ATP events. His first loss was
to Andy Murray in California and the second was to Tomas Berdych in Florida.
Soderling made it to the semifinals in Barcelona, but lost the title to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. The runner up spot at Barcelona earned him the fifth seed at the French Open in May- June. Here, finally, Soderling got his first
win over Federer making their head to head score 12-1. He then proceeded in the tournament all the way to his second consecutive French Open final. He against lost his chance at the title to Rafael Nadal; last year he had lost to Federer. Soderling also became
the finalist at Bastad, though once again, he lost his chance at clinching the title.
At Wimbledon, Soderling finally made it to the quarterfinals. This was for the first time in ten years that he had made it this far, at Wimbledon. However, he could not continue his winning streak and was kicked out of the tournament
after losing his quarterfinal match.
Again as the fifth seed, he entered the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Nonetheless, he was kicked out of the tournament in the third round by Argentinean David Nalbandian. Even though he won the first set, the Argentinean made a comeback
and defeated him in the second and third set. The final match score was 6-4, 4-6, 1-6.
Soderling entered the final Grand Slam event of the season in August. He was once again seeded fifth in the tournament. After a tough five set win over Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round, Soderling sailed into the quarterfinals
with a straight set win over Taylor Dent and Thiemo de Bakker in the second and third rounds. He lost to Federer in the quarterfinals and made their head to head score 13-1. This later became 14-1 as the two again met at the Shanghai Masters; Soderling lost
the match 1-6, 1-6 to Federer in the quarterfinals. Seeded 2nd in the 2010 Stockholm Open, Soderling again lost in the quarterfinals after he battled German Florian Mayer for a spot in the semifinals.
Soderling was the fifth player to qualify for a spot in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Although Soderling has won only a single title this year, he currently ranks fifth in the world rankings.
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