IW: Day Nine Round Up
March 19, 2010 · Print This Article
Indian Wells, CA—Displaying his full repertoire of powerful groundstrokes and sonic serves, Swede Robin Soderling poured in one of his best performances of the season to oust No. 4 seed Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 (4) during the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open.
After playing a 10 minute opening game, it appeared all but certain that the Stadium 1 crowd would witness an entertaining match.
However, by squandering four break points in the first game, Murray became flat off of his forehand and backhands wings, while dumping five straight games.
Winning 88 percent of his first serve points (14-16), Soderling displayed similar form to his great run at Roland Garros last spring.
Using his cross-court backhand, and forehand up-the-line to great affect, the 25-year-old Swede would remain in the proverbial “zone” for the remainder of the contest.
Breaking Murray to lead 2-1 in the second set, Soderling showcased his rare feel for the ball by using his slice backhand. Continuing to dominate with his powerful first serve, Soderling saved a 0-40 deficit in the sixth game of the set to hold his lead at 4-2.
Murray, who made the finals last year in a losing effort to Rafael Nadal, broke Soderling late in the second set to force a deciding tiebreak.
Although Murray prolonged the match by forcing a tiebreak, Soderling continued to pound his serve at 140 MPH in relentless fashion. Providing no end in sight to his power-driven game, Soderling closed out the No. 4 seed in one hour and 35 minutes.
Dropping to 10-3 on the season, Murray, the recent Australian Open finalist had this to say after his defeat.
“I mean, I think he played very well for—to start with, and I didn’t,” confessed Murray. You know, I didn’t move particularly well. I was hitting the ball really short, and he’s obviously got a big game and he was able to dictate all of the points.
“So from my side it was poor, but he hit the ball really big from the back of the court and served well when he needed to.”
Murray will now head to Miami, Florida to prepare for his title defense at the Sony Ericsson Open.
Reaching his first ever semifinal in Indian Wells, Soderling will take a 2-0 career head-to-head lead into Saturday’s semifinal against American Andy Roddick.
Soderling was thrilled to have reached the final four stage in Palm Springs.
“Yeah, it feels great, and especially here in Indian Wells, because my record here hasn’t been so well,” said Soderling. I thought I couldn’t do well here, and now I show I really can.”
Roddick extended his unbeaten record against Tommy Robredo to 11-0 on Friday with a 6-3, 7-5 scoreline.
Having yet to claim the title in Indian Wells, the five-time semifinalist had this to say.
“I’d like to get to the first final and try to win here once,” said Roddick. It’s about the only place in the North American swing that I haven’t won before, so that would be nice.”
Winning 97 percent of his first serve points, Roddick’s comprehensive win over Robredo showcased his renowned serve.
“To be honest, going into the court on my serve isn’t something I think about,” admitted Roddick.
“I think if you use your legs, it’s inevitable to go forward some, though.”
Saturday’s other semifinal will feature defending champion Rafael Nadal vs. 31-year-old Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
Quotes courtesy of ASAP.
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