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7/16/11 5:00 AM | Ricky Dimon
The top four seeds have all advanced to the Bastad semifinals. That sets the stage for a blockbuster Saturday lineup featuring Robin Soderling versus Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer against Nicolas Almagro.
(1) Robin Soderling vs. (3) Tomas Berdych
Soderling and Berdych will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers at the ATP level when they do battle in the semifinals of the SkiStar Swedish Open on Saturday. They have not faced each other since the semis of the 2010 French Open, when Soderling prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to extend his lead in the head-to-head series to 6-3. The fifth-ranked Swede has to be favored again, partly based on his impressive 36-9 record for the season. So far this week Soderling has taken out Diego Junqueira and Potito Starace in straight sets.
Berdych has also been in cruise control up to this point in Bastad. The eighth-ranked Czech opened with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Teymuraz Gabashvili then rolled past Blaz Kavcic 6-1, 6-4 on Friday. Berdych is now 34-14 for the year, so he is still playing solid tennis despite not being quite as on fire as he was in 2010. The No. 3 seed has the talent to pull off what would be a minor upset, but their recent history and home-court advantage point to a victory for Soderling.
(4) Nicolas Almagro vs. (2) David Ferrer
Almagro will look to get over the hump against his countryman when the two Spaniards go head-to-head for the eighth time in their careers on Saturday. Ferrer has won all seven of their previous encounters, including four on clay. They have already squared off twice on the slow stuff in 2011, with Ferrer scoring a hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 6-2 win in the Acapulco final before advancing 6-3, 6-4 in Barcelona.
Both men, propelled by stellar results on clay, are in outstanding form this season. Almagro is 35-12 following straight-set victories this week over Guillermo Olaso and Michael Ryderstedt. Ferrer is coming off Davis Cup heroics in the United States, where he led Spain to a quarterfinal triumph. The world No. 6, ranked eight spots ahead of his opponent, owns a 38-10 record after beating Pere Riba and Andreas Haider-Maurer. A surprise could be in the cards with Ferrer at risk of being fatigued, but look for the No. 2 seed to survive in three.
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What happen to Berdych? Can't see the match, is Sod playing that well or is Berdych playing like crap?
luckystar , 7/16/11 2:06 PM
söderling happened to berdych. perfect match!
croc , 7/16/11 2:21 PM
lucky,
Soderling was on fire! I think he's healthy again because he moved well. It was a masterful performance 6-1,6-0. Wow!
numero , 7/16/11 2:26 PM
Fantastic performance from Söderling. Berdych had a hard time matching him in the rallies. Robin was painting the lines from both wings and made very few UE. About Berdych... I don't know. He just wasn't good enough today. Not the same movement, not the same presicion or power in the strokes as Söderling. Above all no plan B to revert to when he was out gunned with plan A which was to out gun Söderling.
derstatic , 7/16/11 2:31 PM
Thanks número and derstatic. Wow Sod really can play on clay. I wonder which of Almagro and Ferrer is going to face this Sod. I think last year Sod lost to Almagro here, will they meet again this year?
luckystar , 7/16/11 2:39 PM
I think Ferrer's going to win this one.
numero , 7/16/11 3:05 PM
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Hard for me to see Ferrer fatigued. He's an energizer bunny and hasn't spent much time on court this week. Almagro is a different beast than Riba and Haider-Maurer but he was shooting lots of UE and wasn't moving very well in his match v. Ryderstedt. Almagro had one leg taped very hard up to his knee aswell so there might be injury concerns for him.
derstatic , 7/16/11 10:58 AM