Soderling ended Nadal's run at the French Open. He also beat the Spaniard and Djokovic in the masters. But it's the exhibition win over Federer that he rates as the finest of his career
Soderling ended Nadal's run at the French Open. He also beat the Spaniard and Djokovic in the masters. But it's the exhibition win over Federer that he rates as the finest of his career
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Robin Soderling PIC/GETTY IMAGES |
The name Robin Bo Carl Soderling takes one back to last year's French Open. He is the man who brought the mighty Rafael Nadal to his knees.
Nadal, unconquerable on clay winning four consecutive French Open crowns, failed in his bid for a fifth title. But it was not just a defeat for the Spaniard as he was swept aside by the Swede's blistering strokeplay.
Soderling ended the year on a high as well beating Nadal and Djokovic en route to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 arena in November last year, earning him the tag of a giant-killer. Now, Soderling looks to conquer all in the Chennai Open.
He is the top seed and is in piping hot form as he reached the final of the Abu Dhabi invitational event on Saturday losing to Nadal in the final. But among his exploits in recent times, the one achievement that stands out is getting a monkey off his backu2014 beating Roger Federer after 13 attempts in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week.
"It feels out of this world to defeat Roger. He is such an extraordinary player and it is one of my finest wins ever,'' the Swede said with a huge sigh of relief.
The top seed is quite decisive as to why he chose to play here. "I could have played in Doha or Brisbane but I always wanted to come to India. The people are so warm and friendly and I just love Chennai,'' said the Swede.
Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are playing in the Doha tourney.
The 24-year-old who picked up a racket at the age of five in his hometown of Tibro said he grew up watching the likes of Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg.
"I watched them on TV in awe. I said to myself I want to be like one of them one day. I am doing well but I have yet to reach their level,'' said Soderling.
Soderling tried to be sympathetic of Andre Agassi's sensational doping revelations in his new book, Open: An autobiography. "I was a little surprised, but you know it is always very tough on us players. We need to cope with a lot of pressures on the Tour. Maybe he really wanted to get rid of the burden," he said.
