Robin Soderling faces Robin Haase in the opening round of Rotterdam Open
World number four, Robin Soderling returns to the ABN AMRO World tennis tournament this week as the top seed gears up for his title defence. The first rung in the Swede’s title defence ladder is the local wildcard entrant Robin
Haase. Both players will face each other in the first round of the event on Tuesday.
The Swede won his ATP 500 level maiden title here in 2010.
Soderling debuted here in 2005 though he failed to make it past the first round, falling to Tomas Berdych. He returned to the event in 2008, going all the way to the final though he failed to clinch the title, losing to Michael
Llodra in a gruelling three-setter that involved two tiebreakers.
The Swede’s lucky break came in his 2010 run at the event. After moving past Florent Serra, Igor Sijsling and Julien Benneteau; Soderling made his way into the semi-final where he played against Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Soderling
doused the Russian to meet and defeat Davydenko’s compatriot, Mikhail Youzhny in the final to clinch his first title of 2010.
The Swede was one of the six players to start the year unofficially at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi though he failed to make it past the semis, losing to Roger Federer.
After ending 2010 ranked fifth in the world, Soderling got to fourth place with just a week into 2011. Soderling sailed his way into the final without dropping a single set, playing at the season opener in Brisbane. Soderling met
defending champion Andy Roddick in the final and lost only eight games to clinch his first 2011 title.
Soderling continued his no-set loss record into the Grand Slam Down Under as the fourth seed. Having enjoyed straight sets win over Potito Starace, Gilles Muller and Jan Hernych, the Swede made his way into the fourth round. However,
pitted against the rising Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, Soderling was ousted from the event in a five-set defeat.
Haase, on the other hand, ranked 55th in the world is competing at his third tour level event this year. He kicked off the New Year by participating in the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open. The Dutch made it all the way to the
quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka in the event.
His next run on the tour came at the 2011 Heineken Open in Auckland. Bad luck struck him, as Haase failed to make it past the second round as he lost to the American giant, John Isner. Haase’s Grand Slam run was equally disappointing
two weeks ago when he lost to Andy Roddick in the third round.
Now, playing in his fourth Rotterdam event, Haase failed to make it past the second round in his debut run in 2007 at the event. His 2010 run here was utterly disappointing since he was ousted in the very first round by Tommy Robredo.
Prediction: Since this is the pair’s first ever meeting on the courts, the element of surprise is still in play as neither knows what to expect. Although Haase enjoys the home court advantage,
Soderling already holds a title on this surface this year. Given the disparity in their rankings, the odds are definitely in the Swede’s favour.
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