LONDON, (Reuters) – Swede Robin Soderling became the first qualifier for the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals yesterday when he battered world number three Novak Djokovic 7-6 6-1 for his second major shock of the tournament.
Soderling, only competing in the elite year-end showpiece at London’s O2 Arena after Andy Roddick’s injury-enforced withdrawal, backed up his opening Group B win over Rafael Nadal with another magnificent display of power and precision.
Djokovic has played almost 100 matches on Tour this year, including his three-hour victory over Nikolay Davydenko in his opening round-robin match in Group B here on Monday, and it showed as he appeared to throw in the towel in the second set.
The Serb, winner of the tournament 12 months ago when it was held in Shanghai, barely had enough energy afterwards to answer questions about his defeat and he will have to pick himself up quickly for his final round-robin match against Nadal which will decide whether or not he joins Soderling in the semis. “I didn’t enjoy playing today’s match, that’s for sure,” Djokovic, who made 24 unforced errors and hit just six baseline winners in the match, told reporters. “I’m just fatigued from the whole season. “He had nothing to lose today. I think it’s his first Masters Cup. He won four straight sets and absolutely deserved to qualify for the semi-finals. I think he’s the best player so far in the tournament.” Monaco-based Soderling employs high-risk tactics but when he serves as he did yesterday and swings freely on his forehand it is clear to see why the 25-year-old has enjoyed the best year of career that took a while to bloom.
Since his stunning victory over four-times champion Nadal at the French Open and subsequent run to his first grand slam final in which he was beaten by Roger Federer, he has proved that he belongs in the world’s top 10.
“There are the top eight, top nine guys in the world here and I’ve won two matches in straight sets against the number two and three in the world,” Soderling, who is coached by compatriot and former French Open finalist Magnus Norman, said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more.” The only surprising thing about yesterday’s contest was that a weary looking Djokovic, who has reached 10 finals this year, managed to drag the first set into a tiebreak. Soderling let him off the hook in the 10th game when Djokovic faced three set points at 0-40 but the Swede refused to panic. He attacked again at 4-4 in the tiebreak, first forcing Djokovic wide and pummelling away a smash before showing silky net skills to move ahead 6-4. Djokovic saved another set point but Soderling found the mark with a big first serve seconds later to move ahead.
Soderling won a tremendous baseline exchange to seal the first service break of the match at 1-1 in the second set, splintering Djokovic’s resolve in the process, and raced away with the second set in just 29 minutes.
