Tennis latest; Robin Soderling drops down to number five in the world
The Swedish tennis player Robin Soderling has once again dropped down to number five in the South African Airways ATP list, according to the latest rankings released on Monday.
The right hander was previously ranked number four in the world. He is best known for making his way into the title battle at the year’s third Grand Slam, the French Open back in 2009 as well as this season. On both occasions,
the Swede got the better of defending champions on his way into the final, Rafael Nadal last year and Roger Federer in 2010.
The Monte Carlo resident, who made his debut on the ATP World Tour back in 2001, after finishing as a semi-finalist in Valencia, travelled all the way to Paris for taking part at the BNP Paribas Masters Men’s singles tournament
in Bercy.
After receiving a first round goodbye, the owner of six ATP singles titles, who closes the year with a win loss mark of 271-159 on the tour, got the better of Gilles Simon from France in two sets in his opening match. The final
match score was 6–4, 6–0.
Second up was Stanislas Wawrinka, who was given a beating by Soderling in straight sets with a score line of 7–6(3), 6–3. In the final eight round, the world number five posted another impressive two setter win over Andy Roddick
from the United States of America to confirm his semi-final spot in Bercy. The final match score was 7–5, 6–4.
The professional tennis ace from Sweden then prevented a total of three match points is his match against Michael Llodra to advance into his first Master 1000 final, where he won the title, beating Gael Monfils in the end. The
final match score was 6–1, 7–6(1).
Soderling, by virtue of this victory registered his name as the first player from Sweden to win the Bercy event since Thomas Enqvist back in 1996. With this win, he also achieved his career high ranking of world number four by
overtaking Andy Murray in the ATP ranking list on 15th November, 2010.
The Swede despite his title victory in Bercy, however, couldn’t continue his form at the World Tour Finals where he failed to go beyond the round robin stage and thus once again slipped to number five in the world.
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