Robin Soderling drops Barcelona opener to Ivan Dodig in second round
Robin Soderling delivered an unpleasant surprise to hundreds of fans at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell earlier today, dropping his opening match at the clay tournament in straight sets. The third seed, who received a bye
in the first round of the tournament, lost his second round match to World Number 56 Ivan Dodig in straight sets. His Croatian opponent took less than one hour and twenty-three minutes to defeat Soderling, setting up a winning score-line of 6-2, 6-4.
Dodig is ranked much lower than Soderling, and the Swedish Number 1 was expected to end his run at the Barcelona Open today. However, the Croat turned the tables on his opponent quickly and shockingly, entering the match with the
unbreakable intent of emerging as the winner. The player scored six aces in the first set alone, and committed no double faults while Soderling made two such errors. Dodig also managed to break Soderling thrice during the match, and was broken only once himself.
The Croatian tennis pro won the first set by taking 59 per cent of the total points in the set. The score-line was 6-2 to Ivan Dodig at this point.
The second set of the match was somewhat more competitive, as Soderling fought to take control of the match. despite his renewed efforts, Dodig proved too good for the seeded player today. The Croat scored another three aces, and
committed just one double fault. Soderling committed two once again, and could not manage any aces. He was also broken twice at the hands of his opponent, and only avenged himself for one. The player seemed to be in horribly bad form, and lost the second set
by scoring six points less than Ivan Dodig. The Croat himself took 55 per cent of the total points, winning the set 6-4. He took the match 6-2, 6-4 to proceed to the next round.
Ivan Dodig will face Canadian child prodigy and Number 1 Milos Raonic in the second round of the tournament, after the 20-year-old ousted Simon Greul in his second match at the event.
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