Roger Federer vs Robin Soderling US Open preview
Robin Soderling has won just once in the 13 times he’s looked across the net and seen Roger Federer standing on the other side of it.
That victory though was in their last meeting, in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, when Soderling snapped a 12-match losing streak against the defending champion and with it ended Federer’s record run of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-final appearances.
The pair now meet again in the quarter-finals of the US Open, the same stage of the tournament where Federer defeated Soderling last year, and as gentlemanly as Federer’s persona is, it’s hard to imagine him having anything other than revenge on his mind.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion has been in top form in his opening four matches in New York this year, where he’s yet to drop a set, and arrived at the year’s final Grand Slam having reached the final of both hard court warm-up tournaments he played, winning the title in Cincinnati.
With new coach Paul Annacone (who counts Pete Sampras among his previous charges) in his corner, Federer has set his sights on reclaiming the title he’s won five times previously in New York.
Fifth seeded Soderling has been a little less convincing on his way through to the quarter-finals, with world No. 214 Andreas Haider-Maurer forcing the big-hitting Swede to go the distance in the opening round and 21st seed Albert Montanes pushing him to four sets in the round of 16.
Still, Federer is paying his opponent due respect, stating after his fourth-round match that: “"I expect it to be really tough, especially now that he has gotten a taste of how to beat me.”
If the Swede wants to defeat Federer though, he’s going to have to clean up his game between a fourth round that saw 40 unforced errors flow from his racquet and the quarter-finals, where he won’t be able to rely on his opponent to produce more of them than he does.
The French Open demonstrated just how important Soderling’s serve might be to the result too. At Roland Garros, Soderling’s serve decided not to show up for the majority of the first set, which the 26-year-old ended with a first serve percentage of just 47 per cent. By the end of the four-set match, however, the eventual runner-up had pushed his first serve percentage up to 64 per cent (serving at 71 per cent in the second and third sets, and 68 per cent in the third) as he emerged victorious.
That’s the kind of performance it seems likely to take if Soderling is to beat Federer at the US Open too, and that’s also going to mean the fifth seed needs to step up his game in the final eight. Soderling defeated Montanes serving with a first serve percentage of 52 per cent, but will need something more akin to the 68 per cent first serve statistic he produced against Taylor Dent in the second round if he’s to have a shot at toppling Federer for the second straight match.
Federer though is in fine touch – he was less than two sets into the tournament when he produced that through-the-legs trick shot, crosscourt winner against the hapless Brian Dabul – and has more than enough motivation to put that unlucky 13th match against Soderling behind him and move ever closer to a sixth US Open crown.
Prediction: Federer in four sets.
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