Robin Söderling

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Robin Bo Carl Soderling
Country Flag of Sweden Sweden
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth August 14, 1984 (1984-08-14) (age 23)
Place of birth Tibro, Sweden
Height 6 ft 3 in (190 cm)
Weight 180 lbs (81 kg)
Turned pro 2001
Plays Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money $2,220,157
Singles
Career record: 131 - 100
Career titles: 2
Highest ranking: No. 23 (January 8, 2007)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 2nd (2004)
French Open 3rd (2008)
Wimbledon 3rd (2003, 2007)
US Open 3rd (2005)
Doubles
Career record: 14–26
Career titles: 0
Highest ranking: No. 150 (July 16, 2007)

Infobox last updated on: March 3, 2008.

Robin Soderling (born August 14, 1984) is a Swedish tennis player. He wears Adidas clothing and uses a Head Liquidmetal Radical MP racquet.

Contents

[edit] Early career

Robin Soderling made his first steps in international tennis in November 1998 in Luxembourg, when at the age of 14 he played his first official junior tournament, losing the opening match to Fred Hemmes Jr. In his first full year in the junior tour (2000), he achieved four tournament victories and in 2001 attained three more titles in the juniors including the Orange Bowl. In the same year Soderling achieved fourth place in the year-end ranking and played in his very first ATP tournament in Stockholm, winning his first match against Ramon Delgado.

[edit] 2002

Robin Soderling tried to break into the men's circuit, playing five more ATP tournaments and the second round of the US Open. In the Challenger circuit he achieved a 16–8 record, and he played in the US Open Junior tournament where he reached the final.

[edit] 2003

The transition to the main tour was completed as he reached the third round in the Wimbledon (coming from the qualifications) and got an ATP final in Stockholm (losing a decisive tie-break there), earning the year-end ranking of 86.

[edit] 2004

Robin's very first ATP title - in Lyon with a final against Xavier Malisse. He played also another final - in Marseille. By the end of the year, he was a top 40 player.

[edit] 2005

Robin had his first serious injury, eventually resulting in a knee operation in March. But even though not fit to play many tournaments, he managed to score another title - in Milan (b. Radek Stepanek in final). After a mediocre and injury troubled season from there on, Robin reached just one good result (third round in the US Open), before going through another surgery in October.

[edit] 2006

He bounced back from 100th place in the Indesit ATP rankings to top 50 within three months, even though knee and shoulder injuries still prevented him from playing at his best. Helped the Swedish team with two wins to keep its World Group Davis Cup spot in a play-off in Brazil. During the season he was healthy most of the time and managed a good climb, although he failed to impress at the Slams. But in the end of the year, he made many points and finished at career-high place of 25.

[edit] 2007

Söderling made it to the round of 32 at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic. He caused much controversy on the court when he exchanged mocking behaviour with Nadal, tugging on his shorts in the manner Nadal is known for.

Söderling did not make it to an ATP final for the first time in 5 years in 2007, however he turned out consistent results all through out the year. Yet he missed the last 3 months of the main tour due to a left wrist injury.

[edit] Singles Titles

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (2)
Challengers (3)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. July 21, 2003 Tampere, Finland Clay Flag of Russia Igor Andreev 6–4 6–1
2. September 1, 2003 Istanbul, Turkey Hard Flag of Switzerland Michel Kratochvil 7–6 6–2
3. October 4, 2004 Lyon, France Carpet Flag of Belgium Xavier Malisse 6–2 3–6 6–4
4. January 31, 2005 Milan, Italy Carpet Flag of the Czech Republic Radek Stepanek 6–3 6–7 7–6
5. January 23, 2006 Heilbronn, Germany Carpet Flag of the Czech Republic Tomas Zib 6–1 6–4

[edit] External links