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5/12/11 10:11 PM | Ricky Dimon
Robin Soderling survives a thriller against Nicolas Almagro on Thursday in Rome. A quarterfinal clash against Novak Djokovic is Soderling's likely destination.
Robin Soderling came through a massive struggle against Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Thursday night. After two hours and five minutes, most of which featured superb shot-making, Soderling booked his spot in the quarterfinals.
Soderling capitalized on a dismal first set from his opponent to gain an early upper hand in the match, although it was not completely routine for the favorite. After the proceedings opened with five straight holds of serves, Soderling finally broke for a 4-2 lead. The fifth-ranked Swede, though, gave it right back for 4-3 only to break again in the eighth game. Aside from his one service hiccup, Soderling had no trouble on serve throughout set one and he closed it out with ease at 5-3.
Having recently entrenched himself in the Top 10 and playing on his favorite surface, Almagro was not about to go down without a fight. The 10th-ranked Spaniard took care of his first two service games of the second for a 2-1 advantage and promptly won a marathon return game for his second break of the day. Despite squandering his first three chances of the game, Almagro converted his fourth break point thanks to a wild forehand off the Soderling racket.
That proved to be enough for a steadily-improving Almagro, who looked like a different player during the second frame of play. After recording four winners and 15 unforced errors in the first set, Rome's No. 9 seed struck 11 winners to just six errors in the second. He dropped a mere four points in five service games and culminated a love hold at 5-3 with his 10th ace of the match.
An entertaining final set came down to nothing more than break-point conversions. Both players held easily en route to 4-4, at which point things started to get interesting. Soderling faced one break point, but he shut the door with a huge serve and won the next two points to hold. The No. 5 seed then missed his first match point at 5-4 when a grueling rally controlled by Soderling ended with an Almagro forehand winner. Nonetheless, Soderling set up another match point with a running forehand and converted it by forcing his opponent into a forehand error.
Next up for Soderling is either Novak Djokovic or Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic is looking to improve his 2011 record to 34-0 as he goes up against the 14th-ranked Swiss.
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