2010 US Open: Can Robin Soderling Break the Cycle?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: September 8, 2010

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Something funny has happened to Robin Soderling over the past year and a half: He has become reliable.

His serve got more consistent, he started hammering those forehands more authoritatively, and he began believing that he could beat the best. Furthermore, he believed he could do it at the game’s most recognized venues.

Go back to the start of 2009 and you see a pattern emerge: Something, perhaps the weather, or maybe the travel, bothers him down under, and he loses early at the Australian Open. In between the AO and Roland Garros, he does little of note, but something about Paris in the springtime turns this young man’s thoughts to stunning upsets.

Most of the tennis-viewing public had just a vague idea of who this tall young Swede with the bizarre forehand windup was when he handed Rafael Nadal his first-ever defeat at Roland Garros. But there he was, consistently pushing the then-No. 1 Spaniard onto his back foot, driving approach shots and coming in for stunningly easy put-away volleys.

We knew who he was in 2010’s event, but he’d had a quiet first half of the year, winning just one minor title in February, losing in round one in Australia and not really threatening for any of the Master’s Shields. But the RG changed him, as he lost just seven games in his first two matches, crushed fellow big man Marin Cilic and then again stunned the world.

This time it was then-No. 1 Roger Federer, 12-0 against Soderling going into the match, having lost just two sets to the Swede, and having made the semifinals of his previous 23 majors. But again, Soderling’s forehand pushed his smaller, but more accomplished opponent around the court. Again, his less-complete game was irrelevant, because the other man couldn’t find a way to put him on the defensive for a significant length of time.

And again he moved on to the semis, out-dueling a fellow huge hitter (Fernando ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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