Soderling moves to world No. 4 after Paris Masters win
Robin Soderling has knocked Andy Murray out of the world No. 4 ranking after his victory at the BNP Paribas Masters on Sunday.
The big-hitting Swede moves up one place in the rankings to a new career-high, and Murray drops back to world No. 5, after Soderling denied Gael Monfils the chance to cap an impressive week of tennis in front of his home crowd with a title, winning the final 6-1, 7-6.
Monfils had saved match points against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in his third round match, defeated Murray in the quarter-finals, and then saved five more match points against world No. 2 Roger Federer in the semi-finals to reach the final in the Paris suburb of Bercy for the second straight year (he lost to Novak Djokovic in a three-set final in 2009), but was unable to produce the same heroics against Soderling in the final.
For Soderling, who had ended the hopes of an all-French final with his fighting defeat of Michael Llodra in the semis, saving three match points of his own in the process, the victory over Monfils sealed the first Masters title of his career, and his best result in a city where he’s twice been runner-up at the French Open.
It’s a result that can only boost Soderling’s hopes of success at the World Tour Finals this month, although admittedly the only player in the London draw he defeated in Paris last week was Andy Roddick, that match played the day after the American had been confirmed as the final player to qualify for the season ending championships.
Certainly though, the new world No. 4 will arrive at the O2 arena with form and confidence on his side, and at a point in the season where the likes of world No. 1 Rafael Nadal (who missed the BNP Paribas Masters with shoulder problems) and sixth qualifier Tomas Berdych, who after reaching the Wimbledon final has failed to make an impression in the second half of the season, may be slowing down that can only be a positive for his World Tour Finals title chances.
Tags: