Local Robin Soderling wins epic final against David Ferrer – SkiStar Swedish Open 2011
The two top seeds of the tournament met for the final match of the 2011 SkiStar Swedish Open this past Sunday. Home favourite Robin Soderling easily overcame his Spanish opponent David Ferrer, world No. 6, who wasn’t even able
to settle completely in the game which lasted for a mere 67 minutes. Soderling ensured his straight set victory 6-2, 6-2 much to the delight of the Swedes in the stands.
World No. 5 Soderling recorded his fourth Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) title of the year in his third consecutive Bastad final. He had earlier claimed the title by winning 2009’s final against Juan Monaco and was runner
up to Nicolas Almagro last year. Soderling now has an enviable record of winning all three of his finals this season.
Soderling dashed Spaniard Ferrer’s hopes of a 12th career title by claiming his 10th. Ferrer had gone into the tournament hot on the heels of his stellar performance at the Davis Cup, where he helped Spain
break through US to reach the semi finals. Soderling’s last outing prior to the Swedish Open had been a rather lopsided third round at Wimbledon, which was brusquely cut short by Australian Bernard Tomic.
Soderling set the tone of the rain delayed match right from the onset by registering a back breaking serve break in the very first game, limiting Ferrer to just 15 points. Soderling served exceedingly well throughout the game and
displayed excellent skill in grabbing 9 out of his 9 serve points, an efficiency of 100%. Ferrer meanwhile struggled throughout the first set and managed to grab hold of only 5 first serve points. Soderling again broke Ferrer’s serve in the 7thgame
and grabbed hold of 3 aces to register a convincing first set win of 6-2.
Ferrer was once again stunned by his opponent who managed to register two breaks of serve, one again in the first game and another in third game of the second set. The scores easily rose to 4-0 in Soderling’s favour. Ferrer surprised
everyone by breaking serve in the 6th game of the second set but Ferrer quickly regained composure to strike back by registering another breakpoint in the very next game. Despite bagging three aces in this set, Ferrer could not hold forte against
Soderling’s more superior forehand performance and the second set sealed the match for Soderling at 6-2.
Talking with the ATP website, Soderling said "It has been a great week for me. I am really satisfied with the way I played, from the first point to the last point in this tournament. I played really good tennis and played my best
tennis at the most important moments. It has been a dream week.”
This is Soderling’s fourth title of the year; winning earlier at Brisbane, Rotterdam and Marseille.
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