French Open 2010: Roger Federer versus Robin Soderling
Today is going to be one of the most promising matches in the men's competition of the French Open 2010. Defending Champion and world number one, Roger Federer and last year’s runner up Robin Soderling will clash in a fourth round match which is expected to be a thriller to the core. Predictions cannot say much about the result of today’s match. No one knows whether the defending champion will be successful in powering through into the semi-finals of the tournament or will it be another upset in the making with Robin Soderling finishing as a winner.
Since 2004, both the players have come face-to-face with each other on twelve different occasions. More importantly, Robin Soderling has only managed to win only two sets out of these twelve encounters. Federer on the other hand has made it into the semi-finals of the Grand Slam tournament for a consecutive 23 times in his career.
According to statistics, Federer stands on top for today’s match and he is going to come out like a true champion for sure. Although Roger holds a somewhat ideal record in all his clashes against the Swedish prodigy, Soderling is expected to fight his heart out. In all the previous matches that Soderling has played against Federer, the Swede has not proved to be a walk in the park. In all their clashes, the score line was comparatively closer with a high number of tie breaks.
Moreover, statistics cannot really tell what the end result is going to be like. What matters is the person who is going to shine on the very day. However, Roger would be psychologically more relaxed and enjoys an advantage over his opponent Robin.
Robin Soderling was not popular amongst the tennis fraternity about a year ago and people hardly knew him. However, the story completely changed one afternoon when the confident Swedish defeated the Spaniard, Rafael Nadal at the Roland Garros. In this way, the clay court king tasted his first ever defeat against Robin Soderling. After achieving one of the greatest upsets in the world of tennis, Robin Soderling emerged as a mature and professional tennis player.
However, Federer later dismantled Robin Soderling through a perfect game plan. Robin in that match looked completely helpless as his opponent changed the game plans and pace every now and then left him with no excuses.
Robin in an interview after the match blamed Federer for playing poorly as he didn’t let Federer settle on the court. However, Robin has gone on to established himself as an all court player and the Swede feels great about his position at the moment.
In the last four matches so far, both the players have displayed an excellent performance on the tennis court. What is even more interesting is that Robin seemed more strong and confident in his matches as compared to Nadal. Nadal has so far lost 13 games in the French Open tournament while Robin has lost only seven.
The first big challenge for Nadal was his match in the third round of the tournament. He faced Albert Montanes in the first round of the French Open who is regarded as a court specialist. Although losing in one set, Rafael Nadal ended up with a win to his name.
Federer on the other hand has serves which are really strong and are truly among the best in tennis at the moment. However, there were many critics who had placed their doubts about Federer’s form and game about a few weeks ago. However, by rising once again on the top of the list just at the right time, mighty Federer has proved all the predictions wrong. This means that Roger Federer can make a comeback whenever he takes part in a Grand Slam Tournament no matter what happens to his form.
Roger Federer has been unbeaten in the French Open so far without losing a set to any opponent. He has already shown signs of excellence with some brilliant forehand and backhand shots.
Soderling will have to come up with a strategy to handle Federer’s variety of shots as well as his pace. Otherwise, he surely is going to crumble. On the other hand, Federer is up against a player who is in excellent form. The conditions of the match are also going to affect the results. The windy weather conditions will definitely favour Soderling in this crunch match
Whoever turns out to be the winner of today’s match, the clash between the Federer and Soderling is definitely going to be an interesting one.
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