ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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He never won a Grand Slam tournament, but arrived in 2010 in fourth place of the world ranking, won 10 ATP World Tour titles and $10.4 million in career. He is known for being the first tennis player who defeated Rafael Nadal at the French Open (the second was Novak Đoković in 2015 and 2021). The most important tournament he won was the BNP Paribas Masters 2010 in Paris-Bercy, the only Masters 1000 he won in his career.

His last professional match, played on July 17, 2011, guaranteed him the victory in the Swedish Open 2011 in Båstad. He was then forced to stay away from the fields due to a very serious form of mononucleosis that hit him that same year, when he was fifth in the ATP ranking. After designing the return several times, on December 23, 2015 announced the definitive withdrawal from professional tennis.

Technical, mental, clothing and equipment

The game of Söderling was called "brutal". He is known for his powerful game, expressing great strength at every stroke. His best weapon is service. It can take advantage of every aspect: from the right it is able to serve both very flat, reaching speeds beyond 225 km/h, and external. With the passing of time he managed to change the service and to play blows not only of power, but also of placing, decreasing the speed and increasing the spin and the angle. It also has a good place to answer.

From the background Söderling has a devastating right that, if in the day, can be decisive, and is generally considered one of the most lethal blows of the circuit. The rule of law, played on the whole arm, is his best shot, with which he can often find really wide corners; the reverse is a solid, but not decisive blow as the right. It prefers the longline rather than the intercrusted and, sometimes, is able to play a discreet cut.

On the net, where he initially presented some gaps, the Swedish made little progress. If until the middle of 2010 Robin appeared reluctant and shy in the approach, he now plays more often on the attack, ending with volée played also on points of particular importance.

The game of Söderling, paradoxically, fits perfectly both to the ground, slow surface, and to the concrete, fast. A slow game, in fact, gives him the time necessary to load his shots of all power; the speed of the ball, instead, favors the power of his shots, which become hardly recoverable for the opponents. He himself, initially convinced that he was more brought to the faster surfaces, was convinced that he became complete after the victory over Nadal at Roland Garros 2009, and that he could express himself to the maximum on every surface.

Many praised the game of Söderling, stating that it could really remain a stable and top ten