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  • Soderling joins Ancic and Nishikori in the quarterfinals

    10/10/08 2:40 AM | Cheryl Murray
    - The draw at the If Stockholm Open remains largely intact as the top seeds advance through the second round on Thursday.

    Croatia’s Mario Ancic was pushed hard in the first set by Steve Darcis from Belgium, but eventually got the win 7-6(4), 6-4. Neither man managed even a break point chance until 6-5 in the set on Darcis’ serve. Ancic had two break point opportunities, but Darcis fired off four straight points to force the tiebreaker. Ancic got the first mini-break for 4-2. Darcis missed a backhand passing shot to give Ancic the first set. Ancic took control of the second set early, breaking Darcis at 2-2 on two errant backhands from the Belgian. Ancic held onto the break to take the match 6-4 in the second.

    Kei Nishikori also advanced in his second round match 6-1, 1-6, 7-5. The Japanese star took on Dominik Hrbaty, the struggling Slovakian player. Hrbaty never had a chance in the first set. He gave Nishikori nine chances to break his serve, three of which the Japanese man converted to take the first set easily. Hrbaty shored up his game in the second set. Suddenly it was Nishikori committing all the errors. After three breaks of serve, Hrbaty enjoyed his own 6-1 scoreline.

    The third set was far more competitive than the first two. Each man held serve with ease until 4-4 on Hrbaty’s serve. Nishikori had three break points, but the Slovakian saved them all. At 5-5, Nishikori finally got the break on a forehand winner, then closed out the match.

    Robin Söderling, Sweden’s “last man standing” breezed through his own second round match against Argentina’s Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-3. The Swede broke at 3-1 on his third break chance. He had his first set point on another breakpoint at 5-2, but Monaco held him off. Söderling won the first set having lost just two points on his own serve. Söderling was equally as dominant in the second set. He lost another two points on serve and broke Monaco twice, once when the Argentine was serving to stay in the match at 5-3. Despite the commanding performance, Söderling is still recovering from a cold.

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