Robin Soderling dismantles David Ferrer in close straight sets at ATP Tour Finals
Swedish World Number 4, Robin Soderling managed to score a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Spanish player David Ferrer on Tuesday. The match was the second one played in the tournament by both players. Soderling’s success means that his hope of competing in the prestigious
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals' semi-finals is very much alive.
Both Robin Soderling and David Ferrer had been disappointing in the first of their Group B matches at the O2 Arena in London. Now, while Soderling has progressed to a fighting chance for the semi-finals, Ferrer has chalked up his second loss and stands no
chance of progress at the tournament.
French Open finalist Soderling, who is the event’s fourth seed, is in with a chance of reaching the last four in the tournament if he defeats World Number 2, Roger Federer in his third and last group match on Thursday. However, Soderling’s victory means
that Federer will be out for a win in the match in order to make sure that he qualifies for the semi-finals. Any overconfidence on the Swedish player’s part would be highly premature at the moment.
He seems to be level-headed for the moment, saying, “It was a close match, two really tough sets. I'm lucky that I won. I still feel that I have a lot of things that I can improve. Hopefully, I can do that. This was a really important win. Now, at least
I have the chance to make it to the semis."
Soderling and Ferrer have been forced to compete with each other five times already in 2010, so any weariness on part of the players would have been easily forgiven. Soderling had the upper hand on seventh seed Ferrer, with three wins as well as a newly
acquired Paris Masters title under his belt, along with a World Number 4 ranking. The 26 year old player has generally had success at indoor tournaments, although, he did face a crushing defeat in his first group match against Andy Murray.
Soderling returned to form in his match against Ferrer, which remained a more sedate affair than Federer’s earlier victory against Murray. The beginning of the first set was mostly an amalgamation of difficult baseline rallies; therefore, it was surprising
when David Ferrer managed to save a break point in the sixth game with a finely shot winner. Regrettably, this was one of the few moments of tennis brilliance which Ferrer exhibited during the match. The rest of the tough but mundane set was undeniably Soderling’s,
as he converted three set-points on serves offered by Ferrer. The third and last conversion was achieved with a sublime forehand winner.
Soderling managed to get into his natural stride with the return of his intimidating forehand, and although, he missed a break point at the beginning of the second set, he then forced Ferrer to make more and more errors until breaking in the sixth game.
Ferrer redeemed himself by continuing to fight even from 5-2 down, and managing to level the set after breaking Soderling’s serve. However, just when it seemed as if the World Number 7 would make the match a real challenge for his Swede opponent, he shot a
forehand wide enough to give Soderling the advantage with a match-point, which he quickly took away to win the match.
David Ferrer, who was the runner-up for the 2007 ATP World Tour Finals, will face Andy Murray in his last match at the tournament. He seems reconciled with the fact that his fate in the tournament is sealed, saying, “I tried to do my best. I fought to win
the second set. But Robin played better than me and he had more chances all match. He served really well.”
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