Robin Soderling part ways with his coach, Magnus Norman
The Swedish tennis ace Robin Soderling has decided to split from his coach Magnus Norman.
Currently ranked number five in the South African Airways ATP list, the Swede who made his debut on the ATP World Tour back in 2001, has parted ways with his renowned coach after working together for two complete years on the tour. He joined Norman when
the right hander was ranked number thirty-five in the World and has improved remarkably since then.
The 26-year-old Soderling, who rose to number four last month after winning his first Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Masters Men’s singles competition in Bercy, started his 2010 campaign by playing at the 2010 Aircel Chennai Open where he was the
top seed but lost in the opening round at the hands of Robby Ginepri.
Seeded eighth at the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open in Melbourne, Robin once again was upset in the first round by Marcel Granollers of Spain in a five setter epic. The final match score was 7–5, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 2–6.
The Monte Carlo resident then received a wild card entry into the 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament where he played as seeded number three to win the title. The Swedish tennis ace did well to at last regain his rhythm and thus triumphed in his first
ATP match of the season by getting the better of Florent Serra in three sets. The final score line was 4–6, 6–4, 6–1.
After posting his opening round win, Soderling didn’t look back and went on to pick up the crown, when, leading 6–4, 2–0 versus Mikhail Youzhny, who pulled out of the match as a result of his hamstring injury.
His other season highlights include runner up appearances in the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, French Open, the 2010 Swedish Open, semifinal run in Valencia and quarterfinal showings in the 2010 Open 13, Wimbledon, United States Open, the 2010 Proton
Malaysian Open, China Open, Shanghai Rolex Masters and the 2010 If Stockholm Open.
At the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, the highest ranked Swede after receiving a first round bye overpowered Gilles Simon, Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Roddick and Michael Llodra to make his way into the title battle.
In his first Master 1000 finals, Soderling did well to beat Gael Monfils in two sets. The final match score was 6–1, 7–6. With this win, the right hander also jumped to number four in the World. However couldn’t stay there for long due to his poor performance
at the World Tour Finals where he couldn’t go beyond the round robin stage.
Soderling, is the only contender to have defeated world number one Rafael Nadal at the French Open back in 2009. He did make his way into the finals that season but lost to the ultimate winner Roger Federer in the end.
In recent news, the Tibro born released a statement on his website saying that,
“Norman wants to put more focus on his personal life and new projects. I have had the two best years of my career so far with Magnus as a coach. It would have been fun and exciting to continue with Norman, but I have reached a point in my career where I need
a coach who can put in the time necessary, and focus hundred percent on my tennis".
Norman, on the other hand, quoted, "I look back on a fun and fantastic twenty-six month long period of time together with Soderling. I want to thank him for the faith he has had in me to take care of his career, a responsibility I have tried to manage in
the best way possible".
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