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All Hail Robin Soderling – the new and upcoming champion!

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All Hail Robin Soderling – the new and upcoming champion!

He not only ended the reign of four-time winner Rafael Nadal last year in the French Open (in a fourth-round upset), but his might also took down Roger Federer, the defending champion, last week, taking the revenge of the loss in last year’s final at Roland Garros.

He is Robin Bo Carl Söderling, who was born somewhere between the era of Bjon Borg and Stefan Edberg, the Swedish giants of the 70s and the 80s. Born on August 14, 1984 in Tibro, Robin Söderling was up until recently considered a sidekick, much like the comics of Batman and Robin, but after defeating Nadal on the clay court of Rolland Garros last year, and ending Roger Federer's record of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals this week, he has managed to break free, making a name for himself.

He may be ranked the seventh best player in the world and the only Swede in the top 200 in the ATP rankings, but fellow Swede and Tennis legend Bjorn Borg feels Söderling will soon reach the No. 1 ranking. Borg, who holds a record six French Open titles from 1974-81, also predicted that Söderling has the talent to become the first Swede to win the title at Roland Garros since Mats Wilander in 1988. His exact words, in a local newspaper, about Söderling were “(He) will become the world’s No. 1, and will do it faster than we can expect.” (Expressen)

Borg described Söderling’s play against Federer as “perfect”, and said the Swede could surpass both the Swiss star and Rafael Nadal in the rankings. Two years back, Söderling was not even in the top 20s, his best ranking being world number 23. But since then, he has joined hands with former world number 2 Magnus Norman, who coached him brilliantly, improving his game and making him a killer on the court.

This is not the first time Söderling has managed to impress a tennis legend. All-time great Martina Navratilova described the fourth round match between Rafael Nadal and Söderling last year as one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. His 6–2, 6–7(2), 6–4 and 7–6(2) victory over the then top seed made Söderling the first and, as of 2010, the only person to beat Nadal at the Roland Garros.

He then went on to win against the number 10 seed Nikolay Davydenko to reach his maiden major semi-final, where he continued his winning streak by defeating Fernando González in a five-set match. Söderling might have lost the final last year to Federer 1–6, 6–7(1) and 4–6, but his superb play improved his ranking immensely. He once again faced Roger Federer in Wimbledon last year where he was defeated 6–4, 7–6(5) and 7–6(5), but like the final where Federer beat Andy Roddick, the top seed was able to break Söderling’s service just once.

Then, at the US Open, he advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time at Flushing Meadows, but lost to his nemesis Roger Federer, who went on to lose the final to Juan Martin Del Potro. His match against Federer for the fourth time last year was the third such match in a Grand Slam event, yet he failed to win despite taking a set off Federer. Less than 12 months later, Söderling extracted his revenge when he stopped the rise of Federer in the quarterfinals, and by reaching the last 4 at the Roland Garros.

Can Söderling become the world number 1 if he wins at Roland Garros? It doesn’t seem likely, with Rafael Nadal in full form. If the Spaniard wins the final next week, he might overtake the No. 1 spot from Federer. But if Söderling shocks him in the knock-out stage, he might better his current ranking, and provided he performs as well in the coming months, he might prove Borg’s prediction correct.

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