SODERLING PLANS ADMIN CAREER

It looks like Robin Soderling is planning to make a career in the field of administration now. He has been named as the director of the Stockholm Open.

The Swedish player however has denied the speculations that he is going to hang his racquets.

It’s been a while since Soderling had last appeared on the professional tour. He has been out since more than a couple of years.

Soderling had been at a very good position in the world rankings at one point of time in his career, but, he got hit by a strange sort of illness which forced him to keep himself away from the game.

He is still struggling with that problem, but, he is yet to give up on it. He has hopes that he would be able to be back one day and that’s a great sign. Some sportspersons tend to quit when they go though such sort of vicious situations, but, Soderling is not one of them.

The Swedish player released a statement yesterday about why he took over as the Stockholm Open director. That statement reads, “I still have the desire to come back and I am working hard for it, but, meanwhile, I though it’s a good opportunity for me to be involved in the sport in some other way.”

The members of the organizing committee of Stockholm Open also made it clear that Soderling’s new role doesn’t mark the end of his playing career.

They said, “Robin joining as director would benefit the tournament a lot, but, people should not assume that he is done as a player. He is up for the comeback and hopefully, he would succeed in that.”

Despite all that, it’s safe to say that time is running out for Soderling as he has already become 30 years of age.

Robin Soderling – Rendez-Vous in Paris

Robin Soderling Movie Rating: 5 / 5

Bercy tennis 2009 Soderling Davydenko

Robin Soderling Movie Rating: / five

Robin Soderling Defeats Eduardo Schwank 6-2, 6-3 in QFs of Tennis ATP500

Robin Soderling Online video Ranking: 5 / 5

LARSSON MISSES OUT

Robin Soderling’s countrywoman, Johanna Larsson, has been defeated by Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the second round of the ongoing ASB Classic tennis tournament.

Ivanovic won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-1. She was at her peak right from the word go and it didn’t take her even an hour to crush her opponent.

Ivanovic hadn’t looked in good touch in her first round match against Alison Riske of USA. She had struggled for the points and that’s why, a few people believed that Larsson had an opportunity to pull off an upset against her, but, that wasn’t the case to be. The Serbian player improved her game significantly and put up a dominating performance against her Swedish opponent.

Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, Ivanovic said, “You feel really confident after putting up these sorts of performances. I hardly made a mistake in the entire match.”

“I had faced Johanna a few times in the past and she had pushed me to the limits. So, I went out there thinking that I would be given a tough fight, but, thankfully, that didn’t happen and I managed to dominate for most parts.”

“I was positive from the outset. I wanted to take the attack to her and I am happy that I succeeded in doing so.”

With the win against Larsson, Ivanovic has now made her way into the quarterfinals. To move further, she will have to defeat the Japanese player Kurumi Nara who has also been in fantastic form in the tournament. She lost just one game in her previous match against her countrywoman Ayumi Nara.

However, there is huge difference between the world rankings of Ivanovic and Kurumi and the former is definitely the favourite to make it to the semi finals.

SODERLING WANTS RETURN

Jonas Bjorkman has said that his compatriot Robin Soderling wants to return to professional circuit, but, his physical condition is not allowing him to do so.

Soderling had suffered glandular fever a few years back and he is yet to recover from it completely. He has played a few matches in the recent past, but, he hasn’t managed to play regularly. After playing a couple of games, he disappears.

According to Bjorkman, Soderling tries to train, but, his body has become so much weak from inside that he doesn’t manage to continue training for too long.

Talking to the reporters about Soderling yesterday, Bjorkman said, “Robin wants to start playing again and he tries to practice every now and then, but, he doesn’t seem to have the stamina to continue practicing for a few hours. He practices for 5-7 minutes and then feels the need to take rest. I was with him a few days ago and I saw him trying, but, that illness is still there.”

“It’s a disappointing thing for the tennis fans all over the world especially for the Swedish fans. Everybody wants to see a top player performing.”

“If Robin manages to recover from that disease, it will take him just a few months to be back in top 20. He is a player of very high calibre. But, his fitness is the key. He has lost a lot of weight and he will have to work very hard to build those muscles again.”

When asked about the reasons behind the downfall of the game of tennis in Sweden, Bjorkman said, “We don’t have quality coaches around. That’s the main reason behind the decline of the game in our country.”

Bjorkman had announced his retirement from professional tennis in 2008, but, he came out of his retirement last month and took part in the doubles competition of Stockholm Open.