Help

loading...

Ricky Dimon

  • World Tour Finals profile: No. 9 Robin Soderling

    2009-11-17 20:24:47

    In the eight days leading up to the 2009 World Tour Finals, Ricky will individually preview this year’s eight qualifiers, starting with No. 8 and progressing toward No. 1. Now that Andy Roddick has officially withdraw, world No. 9 Robin Soderling owns the final spot in London.

     

    Rafael Nadal had never lost at Roland Garros. Not once in four whole years.

     

    That all changed on May 31, 2009. Unheralded Robin Soderling—an indoor-court specialist who had mustered only one game against Nadal in Rome just one month earlier—met Nadal in the French Open fourth round and stunned the four-time defending champion 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2).

     

    Soderling need not apologize that he got to face a Nadal who was mentally in shambles (parents’ divorce) and hardly any better physically (knee tendinitis). It would be unfair to guarantee that even a healthy Nadal would have defeated Soderling, who—in rare form—went on to beat Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez before falling to Roger Federer in the title match.

     

    Rarely do players get into the prestigious year-end event on the strength of a singular performance, but that is just what Soderling has done. The 25-year-old Swede was consistently good throughout the rest of his 2009 campaign, but certainly not great.

     

    How He Got Here

     

    2009 record: 47-19

    Grand Slam performances: Australian Open R2, French Open F, Wimbledon R4, U.S. Open QF

     

    Titles: Bastad

     

    Runner-Ups: French Open

     

    Key Wins

     

    French Open R4: d. Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2)

    French Open QF: d. Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 6-3, 6-1

    French Open SF: d. Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4

    Bastad F: d. Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-6(4)

    U.S. Open R4: d. Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, retired

    Shanghai R3: d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-3

     

    Head-to-Head vs. other WTF participants

     

    vs. Roger Federer: 0-12 (0-6 on hard courts)

    vs. Rafael Nadal: 1-3 (0-0 on hard courts)

    vs. Novak Djokovic: 0-5 (0-4 on hard courts)

    vs. Andy Murray: 1-2 (1-2 on hard courts)

    vs. Juan Martin Del Potro: 1-1 (0-1 on hard courts)

    vs. Nikolay Davydenko: 6-3 (3-3 on hard courts)

    vs. Fernando Verdasco: 4-1 (2-1 on hard courts)

     

    Outlook

     

    Soderling needed help to get into the World Tour Finals. He did well to reach a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world by the end of the regular season, but the magic number—of course—was eight. When Andy Roddick’s long-speculated withdrawal was finally confirmed on Tuesday, Soderling took the eighth and final spot in London.

     

    Now the question is whether or not Soderling will capitalize on his good fortune.

     

    Aside from his performance at Roland Garros, the Swede posted solid but unspectacular results during what was his breakout season on the ATP Tour. Against the competition he will face at the World Tour Finals, however, an unspectacular level of tennis will not get the job done.

     

    Soderling is a combined 13-27 lifetime against his seven fellow WTF competitors. Of course, that mark is skewed by an 0-12 record against Federer. Then again, it is also skewed by a 6-3 record against Davydenko and a 4-1 clip against Verdasco (whom Soderling will not play in round-robin play; they will be split up as the Nos. 7 and 8 “seeds”).

     

    His 2009 clay-court results notwithstanding, Soderling is at his best on indoor hard courts. As such, he will have a good chance of turning the tide on at least one or two of the opponents against whom he has not fared well against in the past. While he has a shot at advancing out of round-robin play, that combined 2-22 record against the top four players in the world is alarming. If Soderling reaches the London semifinals, his run will almost certainly end there.

Tell a friend »

Comments


Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.
Username:

Password:

Archive

Mon 30/08 05:49
U.S. Open pre-tournament expert picks

Sun 29/08 21:46
2010 U.S. Open picks: Murray over Federer

Sun 29/08 16:12
Approach Shots: Nadal goes for first U.S. Open title

Sat 28/08 19:28
2010 U.S. Open preview: Nadal and Federer breakdown

Fri 27/08 22:34
2010 U.S. Open preview: Top 25 contenders

Thu 26/08 21:01
2010 U.S. Open preview: Draw analysis

Sun 22/08 23:55
Approach Shots: New Haven provides final U.S. Open tuneup

Thu 19/08 05:26
Expert picks: Cincinnati third round

Sun 15/08 22:08
Approach Shots: Federer, Nadal on same side in Cincy

Fri 13/08 05:11
Toronto mid-week predictions

Mon 02/08 18:31
Approach Shots: D.C. begins all-out push toward U.S. Open

Mon 26/07 20:04
Approach Shots: U.S. Open Series continues in LA

Mon 19/07 06:19
Approach Shots: U.S. Open Series begins in Atlanta

Thu 15/07 05:22
Isner vs. Mahut – Records, Facts, Quotes, etc.

Sun 11/07 15:57
Approach Shots: Back to the clay View all posts

ATP Calendar

Date
Tournament
30 Aug
US Open

New York City, USA

20 Sep
BCR Open Romania

Bucharest, Romania

20 Sep
Open de Moselle

Metz, France

27 Sep
PTT Thailand Open

Bangkok, Thailand

Follow us

Follow Tennistalk on Facebook Follow Tennistalk on Twitter

Register for newsletter:

Poll

Who will win the US Open?
Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray
Other

Poll archive

Articles - Latest commented

Blog - Latest commented

Tell a friend

Your name:

Friend's name:

Friend's email:

Other tennis links