Robin Soderling Favourited in 2010 Swedish Open
On Saturday, July 10, the ATP SkiStar Swedish Open got under way on the sunny west coast of Sweden. The international tennis event is consistently popular with spectators and players alike, and is again benefiting from a strong lineup for a non-Grand Slam tournament.
With a deliberate focus on delivering high comfort levels for competitors, the Swedish Open has been voted ATP World Tournament of the Year by tennis players for the past 8 seasons.
Held in picturesque town Båstad since 1948, 2010 is the first year that only 28 players took part in the tournament’s first round.
Four seeded players skipped the first round. Swedish favourite Robin Soderling and Spanish trio Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro will all enter the tournament in its 2nd round, which begins on Wednesday. The four players are tipped to progress to at least the semi-finals in the tournament.
Having defeated German player Daniel Brands in the 1st round of the tournament on Monday, Swedish player Andreas Vinciguerra advanced to what will be a hotly contested 2nd round draw with Soderling on Wednesday.
Vinciguerra, well aware of the energy-draining surface of the centre court, was pleased with his victory but aware that he was at a disadvantage to the top-seeded Soderling.
"It was tough, but I'm happy to have gone through," Vinciguerra, who reached the final of the Swedish Open in 1999 and 2000, said after beating Brands.
"I would have preferred a two-set victory, though. Robin is one of the world's very best players. I'm looking forward to that match,” he added.
First-seeded Soderling is widely tipped to defend the title he won in 2009 when he beat Argentine player Juan Monaco in the final.
Soderling, now ranked as World No. 5, enjoyed remarkable successes in 2009. In the French Open, he became the first player to defeat clay specialist Rafael Nadal over five sets.
Soderling finished as runner-up in the tournament, having lost the final to Roger Federer.
With many having doubted whether the 25 year-old would be able to carry his strong run of form into 2010, Soderling has performed well so far this season.
In June, the Swede managed to defeat Federer in the quarter-final in the French Open. However, this time it was Nadal who proved to be too strong in the final by defeating Soderling in three straight sets.
Should he progress from the 2nd round and the quarter-finals, Soderling will likely face David Ferrer in the semi-final in this year’s Swedish Open.
Ferrer, the current World No. 12 and winner of the 2007 Swedish Open, gave Soderling a run for his money in the Round of 16 in Wimbledon earlier this year, holding out for five sets before the Swede eventually edged out on top.
The Spaniard Ferrer will face Italian Fabio Fognini in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
Fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo, another Spanish player competing in this year’s tournament, defeated Polish player Michal Przysiezny over three straight sets on Tuesday.
Robredo, who won the tournament in 2006 and 2008, will face Kazakh Andrey Golubev in the 2nd round.
In the doubles tournament, the first-seeded Spanish pair Marcel Granollers and Robredo are set to face India’s Harsh Mankad and Pole Przysiezny on Wednesday.
The only other seeded pair to progress from the first doubles round were Swede Robert Lindstedt and Romanian doubles specialist Horia Tecau.
Lindstedt and Tecau defeated Australian Peter Luczak and Swedish player Andreas Siljestrom in the 1st round. They are due to face Polish pair Tomasz Bednarek and Mateusz Kowalczyk in the 2nd round of the 2010 Swedish Open.
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