Robin Soderling’s BNP Paribas Victory: A Mere Fluke or Sign of Greatness Yet to Come?
Newly crowned World Number 4 Robin Soderling has always had a reputation which stops a few places short of popular. No matter how many victories he amasses, or what milestones he runs through the player seems to have the inherent ability to displease both
fans and critics. He recently added the French spectators to this list, with his Sunday win at the BNP Paribas title match in Paris.
Robin Soderling, who never won this title before, competed against French Number 2 Gael Monfils - also a fresh debut for the title. Both players were competing for their first victory at a Masters 1000 event, and with the home crowd being Parisian, the advantage
for support seemed to go to Monfils. However, while La Monf had the hearts of the crowd, Soderling took what really mattered: the game. Soderling performed in just the fashion needed for a player whose opponent is cruising on fan support and high emotion;
he took the match systematically and crushed Monfils in the process, keeping the crowd’s reaction at arm’s length.
The Swedish player slaughtered Monfils in the first set, taking it with a score of 6-1. By the time La Monf and the crowd regained enough composure to register the first-set massacre and mustered up a decent effort, the Frenchman was again in trouble. While
Monfils did better in the second set, the two players reached a 6 all impasse which pushed the game into a tiebreaker. At this point, Soderling allowed La Monf a mere point before he went on to win the set, match as well as the tournament.
Many critics will link his victory to the fact that Soderling didn't compete against the Big Three – comprised of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – in this tournament. He was also spared a match against British Number 1 Andy Murray, whom he
had dethroned when he took up the Number 4 spot.
However, Soderling set himself apart from the second-tier players, including Gael Monfils, with his consistency and inclination to make the best of every opportunity. His BNP Paribas success may be a subtle warning to his opponents at next week’s ATP tour
championships. What remains to be considered is this: can Soderling improve on at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals, keeping his semi-final appearance in last year’s tournament in mind?
The statistics are not too encouraging. Soderling holds a 1-5 win record over Djokovic, 2-5 against Nadal, 2-2 over Murray and an entirely unbalanced 1-14 against Federer. But, Soderling’s wins against these players have been recent, and he is 2 all versus
Nadal in their last four encounters.
Despite this, Federer’s record against Soderling is guaranteed to give the Swede a run for his money at the least. In a tournament like the season-ending event where round-robin matches are held, it is impossible for Soderling to avoid the maestro for too
long a period of time. His performance at the latest event has left him jubilant; he says, “I’m really happy that I played well today, and now I'm here winning the title. When I won that last point, I just felt so happy and I felt so relieved. I really wanted
to win this match so much.” The player should, though, keep himself from growing too self-confident. His record against the top three is still mediocre at best, with a 6-26 total record.
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