After defeating Roger Federer Robin Soderling can win the French Open
World’s no. 7 Robin Soderling looks to produce another intriguing run at Rolland Garros, as the Swede advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 7-5,2-6, 6-3 victory over Estoril Open champion Albert Montanes of Spain on Thursday.
Soderling has been in dominating form in his past three matches, dropping only one set so far in the Grand Slam tournament.
And then he faced the worlds number one and did what he has been doing best and put Federer out of the French Open.
Federer insisted he is ok with losing his rank "Losing the top spot wouldn't be the end of the world," he said. "If I do lose it I'm sure I'll get it back soon – and that would be an even better feeling."
This is not the end of Federer, his recovery record is second to none and Federer knows it with comments such as "One hour I need, and then it's a different day and a different hour and a different match coming up. I don't bother to think too much about losses." As he reflected on his loss to Soderling here, Federer insisted: "You just take the defeat as it is. You don't think of the consequences. Then you move on."
Soderling has been way too much for Montanes also, who has now 1-2 record against the Swede, struggled to answer Soderling powerful forehands and took his fifth third round exit of his career.
The 29-year-old Montanes was fresh from a 6–2, 6–7(4), 7–5 win over Frederico Gil of Portugal to bag the Estoril Open for the second time.
Soderling also showed improvement on his footwork, as he slid and glided under the blistering heat of the sun.
Soderling also defeated former world No. 21 Taylor Dent 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday to enter round three of the French Open.
The 31-year old Swiss blasted Dent in seventy-one minutes of flawless tennis action with booming forehands, crisp backhands and pinpoint accurate serves. His second round lopsided win over hard-hitting Dent prove that his winning run in the 2009 French Open is no fluke after all.
Soderling blasted his way to the second round by trashing French wildcard Laurent Recouderc in three sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. He hammered the Frenchman with 46 winners last Sunday to breeze comfortably from the first round.
The Swede also made some serves with nine aces in the match with the fastest serve recorded at 224 km/h. He is displaying the same remarkable form he had last year after placing a runner-up finish in the 2009 Roland Garros tournament.
Soderling is priming up again to meet Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal whom he defeated at the 2009 French Open in four sets with score of 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 7-6(2) in the fourth round.
The Swede disposed Nadal again in 2009 at Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. These two tennis protagonists started their rivalry in the third round of the 2007 Wimbledon Open.
Soderling caught media attention after mocking Nadal’s habit of lifting up his shorts before playing a point. The Swede national is the first player to defeat Nadal at the French Open. However, Nadal still enjoys a 3-2 head-to-head winning career record against Soderling.
The Swede registered his first Grand Slam Finals appearance in 2009 French Open only to lose to world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland who got his first French Open crown.
Soderling kick starts his winning run at the 2010 French Open with his aggressive power and drive game, hard ground strokes and heavy, accurate service. His forehand strokes are considered as one of the best in contemporary tennis. Backhand shots are dependable for his very good return game style. He is considered as one of the most competitive
Soderling has five career tiles including an ATP World Tour 500 Series diadem won a hard surface. He is more comfortable playing in faster surface like hard and carpeted courts. It will be a new challenge for the fifth seed Soderling to win his first Grand Slam title on a slow court like the red-clay main court of Phillippe Chatrier.
Soderling is expected to get a tougher challenge Saturday, when he faces world’s No. 12 Marin Čilić of Croatia in the third round.
Čilić, another power hitting player, had also an easy time cruising though the first two round before edging Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 in the third round.
However, with the kind of competitive tennis Soderling plays right now, he could be a cinch in bagging his first ever French Open title with his interesting run at Roland Garros.
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