Robin Soderling
‘s 6-1, 7-5 win over Paolo Lorenzi in just 1 hour 14 minutes could have been a lot faster if he hadn’t lost his way in the second set. The match was all Soderling. Even though Soderling doesn’t have the best feel at the net and definitely doesn’t have the best agility on a clay court he look dominant throughout the match, pummeling his forehand hard and flat and controlling the direction of pace. In the first set there was nothing his Italian opponent could do.
When Robin came out in the second match he was a different player and he looked markedly disinterested. The commentators suggested that he had mentally checked out of the game knowing he wouldn’t be broken and knowing he would walk away with a win. It looked like Soderling expected the first set to go the same way as the first, but it didn’t.
The plucky young Italian, spurred on by a small home crowd, struggled and tried to lift his game, battling to hold serve. His second double fault of the match, when serving at 5-5, gave Soderling a vital 0-30 lead from which he wasn’t able to recover. Soderling then served for the match, clearly having decided he wans’t mucking around anymore thumping winners to hold serve and take the match easily.
Soderling will next face the winner of Hanescu and Wawrinka.
