French Open - Soderling hammers Davydenko

Eurosport - Wed, 03 Jun 12:53:00 2009

Swede Robin Soderling built on the momentum that allowed him to beat Rafael Nadal and reached the French Open semi-finals with a 6-1 6-3 6-1 drubbing of Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Robin Soderling of Sweden returns a shot to Nikolay Davydenko of Russia during their quarter-final match at the French Open REUTERS - 0

Soderling, who created one of the biggest upsets in tennis when he knocked out four-times champion Nadal in the fourth round, will play his first grand slam semi-final against Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez, who later knocked out world number three Andy Murray.

The 23rd-seeded Swede, who had never been considered a clay court specialist, said he was starting to enjoy himself on the slowest surface.

"If you'd ask me like four years ago, I'd say I will never reach a semi-final in Paris," he said.

"But every year, I play better and better on clay. Actually, I like to play on all surfaces. There's no surface that I don't like.

"Maybe so far I had my best results indoors but then I think clay is my next best surface, actually."

Thanks to his victory over Nadal, he has acquired some famous fans.

"It was very big for me to receive an SMS from Bjorn (Borg) He's maybe the best player of all time," said Soderling, whose defeat of Nadal ensured the Spaniard would continue to share the record of winning four Paris titles in a row with Borg.

"He said thank you for not letting Nadal break my record. I think he will be down here maybe tomorrow."

After shrugging off a couple of break points, Soderling raced through the first set in 23 minutes, with Davydenko, whom he beat in their two previous encounters on clay, claiming only 10 points.

In the second set, the Swede earned the first break for 3-1 with a bludgeoning forehand, the very same weapon that helped him against Nadal.

With Davydenko, who turned 28 on Tuesday, constantly running from side to side chasing after Soderling's winners it was barely surprising when he dropped his serve again to lose the second set.

The Swede continued to step confidently into the court in the third and was barely bothered on his service games by a clueless Davydenko.

"He surprised me, he played really well," said Davydenko.

"I tried to play better, to get some control from the baseline and play some long rallies with some top-spin, but he kept making winners. He just played faster."

Soderling, who held serve throughout, wrapped up the win with his fourth ace after one hour 41 minutes - but is determined to keep his feet on the ground.

"As I said after the match against Nadal I won a great match, and this is maybe the happiest match day in my career," the 24-year-old said.

"But I have another match to concentrate on. I feel the same way today. I don't want to be too happy, because I have another match coming up."

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Reuters

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  1. robertxxx111.....
    Do you have a very stupid lowest­ quality sense of humour, or are you just completely­ bonkers?

    From tennis_forhealth, on Wed 3 Jun 9:31PM

  2. why the fuc*s this on the west ham page.....Dont want­ to read about tennis on a football page.

    From withey.paul, on Wed 3 Jun 12:20PM

  3. You are 100% right teapsky. Soderling wiil be the same­ story like Tsonga on AO 2007. After 6 excellent matches­ in a row, Jo played an ordinary match with Nole in the­ final and lost.

    From siskra83, on Wed 3 Jun 12:15PM

  4. If Soderling manages to go to the finals, I'm­ afraid he will collapse there. Especially if he plays­ Federer. For me, id Fed beats Monfils, he'll win­ the tournament cos Robredo, Del Po and Gonzo don't­ have the mental strenght to beat him in a grand slam.­ Only Monfils can do it. And I'll be disapointed to­ see Roger winning RG without having beaten Nadal. Plus,­ he's not playing that great this year. Not at all­ to be honest. Poor match against Acasuso, not that­ convincing against Mathieu...

    From teapsky, on Wed 3 Jun 11:58AM

  5. @54you are right, it seems that aaditya has very big­ mental problem

    From siskra83, on Wed 3 Jun 11:54AM

  6. Of cos I've heard of cricket. The 2nd most boring­ sport in the world and the Aussies are the winners of­ the last 3 World Cup.
    Anyway, my comment wasn't­ intended for u but for aaditya and yogesh(maybe the­ same person, who knows?)the most stupidest morons who­ come here.
    ROFLMAO...well if going to foreign countries­ working as labourers makes u happy, good for u.

    From maria.sharapova_screams_too_much, on Wed 3 Jun 11:22AM

  7. maria sharapova screams too much,

    i can't speak­ for aaditya/yogesh...though they ain't scums since­ they don't support sania mirza for RG, as some­ Brits and Serbs support their people even though they r­ not at all good enough to win a GS, why, they can't­ even play 5 sets!!!

    fyi, have u heard of a game called­ cricket? i am sure u wouldn't have!

    btw, we­ Indians have much more brains than u westerners! maybe­ that's why we keep getting all the good jobs, even­ in ur countries!!!

    From deepak, on Wed 3 Jun 10:52AM

  8. soderling is clearing the dust on the clay court for­ ROGER FEDERER. sooner than
    later he'll hand over­ the trophy to the owner on a silver plate without a­ fight.

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Wed 3 Jun 10:09AM

  9. soderling is clearing the dust on the clay court for­ ROGER FEDERER. sooner than
    later he'll hand over­ the trophy to the owner on a silver plate without a­ fight.

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Wed 3 Jun 9:57AM

  10. soderling is clearing the dust on the clay court for­ ROGER FEDERER. sooner than
    later he'll hand over­ the trophy to the owner on a silver plate without a­ fight.

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Wed 3 Jun 9:56AM

  11. soderling is clearing the dust on the clay court for­ ROGER FEDERER. sooner than
    later he'll hand over­ the trophy to the owner on a silver plate without a­ fight.

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Wed 3 Jun 9:55AM

  12. Seems like the indian scums like aaditya and yogesh w­ #27 are so full of venom.
    They must lead miserable­ lives to come to this site and write so much hatred.
    I­ can imagine their frustration cos India has nothing­ with so many people crawling there. What have they?­ Sania Mirza who was out in the first round with some­ injury and loads of other excuses.
    Go Monfils!!­ Dominika awaits you.

    From maria.sharapova_screams_too_much, on Wed 3 Jun 4:26AM

  13. #42, 43. Siskra 83. How you hit the nail in the­ head!
    Federer had a really easy draw and even so­ struggles thru it. What a fluke if he win RG.He­ certainly doesn't deserve it. I hope Monfils comes­ with the goods and finish him off. As for Delpo, yea he­ can play good with the rest of the bunch but wit­ Federer, he justs shrinks. Maybe this time if they­ meet, he can ward off the demons.

    From maria.sharapova_screams_too_much, on Wed 3 Jun 4:21AM

  14. Well done Soderling, amazing what confidence can do -­ but then beating the King of Clay should give you no­ doubt that you have a shot at winning the whole thing­ !! Should be a great match up with Gonzalez, it will­ depend on who plays the big points better and keep the­ momentum in their favour.

    From ispurs, on Wed 3 Jun 3:19AM

  15. There are so many people not knowing tennis at all­ here..Some of the comments do show...

    From rc_allcock, on Tue 2 Jun 10:27PM

  16. Monfills has better chances to beat Roger than Del­ Potro and Robredo together. Just remember US Open and­ Madrid and you can see how frighten is Del Potro ­ playing Roger....and Gonzo, never mind how well is he­ playing, he is not capable mentally to beat Federer

    From siskra83, on Tue 2 Jun 9:15PM

  17. This RG Federer is very lucky with his draw and­ everything. In my opinion, he is playing his worst­ tennis, he was about to loose with Acasuso and Haas­ (if only Tommy could break in the 3 set). Now, he has­ to survive only tomorrow, and if he does he will win­ the final. Del Potro, Robredo and Gonzo normally are­ loosing from Federer and Soderling, never mind how­ confident he is now, after his match with Rafa, he has­ no consistency (that's why he is not in the tip 10)­ and in one possible final Soderling will play his worst­ game and only as a result of that Federer will win.

    From siskra83, on Tue 2 Jun 9:05PM

  18. Everybody seems to count out the only guy who has ­ beaten Nadal in Paris as a temporary fluke, even though­ he then went on to hammer the 10th seed in the quarter.­ I'd say Soderling seems to be on a roll, and­ "just" needs to keep it up to take the title.

    From David, on Tue 2 Jun 8:51PM

  19. What I cannot understand right now is that immediately­ when Davydenco lost at Soderling a press release was­ issued and Soderling was overwhelmed with attention­ from media. How come that on Sunday, when Davydenco won­ in straight sets over Verdasco, there was nothing, no­ press release, not even a small note or analyse of the­ game. No remark on the way they played, no remark on­ Verdasco's exit even if he was considered among­ favourits. I consider this an unbelievable low quality­ behaviour in what concerns Eurosport media behaviour.­ Shame on you, as you should be an example of fair­ treatment, professionalism and fair play!

    From dia, on Tue 2 Jun 8:40PM

  20. I think Roger will take this now, Murray was the only­ player in the draw capable of takeing 3 sets off of­ Roger, can't see anyone else doing it, definately­ not Monfils, federer has far too much game.

    From faeelisabethc, on Tue 2 Jun 8:12PM
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