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.

SWEDES DEFEATED

Robin Soderling’s countrywoman, Sofia Arvidsson, has been defeated by Li Na of China in the second round of the ongoing US Open. Li won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-2.

It was a dominating effort by Li who has been given the 5^th seed in this tournament. She was at the top of her game and played ruthless shots in both the sets. The Swedish youngster couldn’t find a way to tackle those shots and ended up suffering a big defeat.

This was the 3^rd match between these two players and Li has won all those matches.

Just when the match got over, it started raining. Li was thankful that the rain started after her match. Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, the Chinese superstar said, “It’s really hard for the other guys who will have to wait. Luckily, I am not one of them.”

“I had played against Sofia a couple of times in the past and she had given me a tough time on both the occasions. Even today, she fought hard. The score line might suggest that it was a one sided match, but, the reality is a bit different.”

“I rarely made mistakes on my serve today and that’s something which I am pretty happy about.”

Li got a great start in the opening set. She broke Arvidsson’s serve in the 2^nd game and was off to a lead of 2-0.

In the next 5 games, both the players held their serve and at the end of the 7^th game, Li was leading by 5-2.

With another breakthrough in the 8^th game, the Chinese player sealed the opener by 6-2.

Li began in the same fashion in the second set too. Again, she took a lead of 2-0 with a breakthrough in the second game. But, this time, Arvidsson managed to break back in the next game.

A serve hold for the Swedish player in the 4^th game made the score 2-2. But, after that, it was all about Li Na. She won the next 4 games with two consecutive breakthroughs and clinched the match.

In the next round, Li will face the winner of the match between Laura Robson of Britain and Caroline Garcia of France.

MURRAY WINS

Andy Murray has won the Wimbledon Championships 2013 by defeating the no. 1 player in the world Novak Djokovic in the final match. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

This is the first time in the last 77 years that a British player has won the Wimbledon Championships. The last time that a British player had won this tournament was way back in 1936. Fred Perry had done that then.

Murray who was given the second seed in this tournament played fabulous tennis in the final match. He was dominant right from the outset and he didn’t give Djokovic any opportunity to settle down.

This was the 19^th match between these two players and Murray defeated Djokovic for the 8^th time.

Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, Murray said, “Last year, the final match was a big disappointment for me. It’s completely different this time around. It was not an easy match. The last game went on for quite long. Fortunately, I managed to sneak through somehow.”

“It’s really a special feeling. A lot of people desperately wanted a British player to win the Wimbledon Championships. I am glad that I fulfil their wishes.”

“Novak is a great fighter. He never gives up. The way he fought in that final game was incredible.”

On the other hand, Djokovic was looking hugely gutted. The Serbian superstar said, “I don’t want to make any excuses, but, I was physically struggling a bit after the tough last match. Andy played terrifically well and he deserved to lift the trophy. I want to congratulate him for his success.”

Djokovic had to toil hard for 283 minutes to defeat the Argentinean player Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi final match on Friday.

WAWRINKA WINS IN PORTUGAL

Stanislas Wawrinka has won Portugal Open by defeating David Ferrer of Spain in the final match on Sunday. Wawrinka won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-4.

This is the first title won by Wawrinka in the ongoing season. He took just 1 hour and 5 minutes to defeat Ferrer who was given the top seed in this tournament.

Wawrinka was defeated by Ferrer in the final of Copa Claro in February this year. The Swiss no. 2 avenged that loss in style.

In the post match interview, Wawrinka said, “It’s great to have my first title of the season. Taking on David was always going to be a challenge. He is a world class player. I just tried to be focussed and play within my limitations. It came off well today.”

On the other hand, Ferrer was looking perplexed after ending up on the losing side. He said, “In big games, you need to start well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that today. My performance in the first set was way below par and I couldn’t recover from there.”

In the first set, Wawrinka started in a fine way. He broke Ferrer’s serve in the 2^nd and the 4^th game and took a lead of 5-0.

Ferrer held his serve in the 6^th game to decrease the lead to 5-1, but, that was too little to make a difference. Wawrinka easily served out the 7^th game and grabbed the opening set by 6-1.

In the second set, neither of the two players managed to get a breakthrough in the first 8 games and the scores were levelled at 4-4.

Wawrinka got a breakthrough in the 9^th game to get ahead by 5-4. All he required to do after that was to hold his serve in the next game and he did that with ease to finish off the match.

FERRER vs SODERLING

The last professional match played by Robin Soderling was against David Ferrer of Spain a couple of years back. That was the final of the Swedish Open and Soderling had won that in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-2. That was the fourth title won by Soderling that year.

2011 had been a fabulous year for Soderling till that time. He had won 38 out of the 47 matches that year and was at the 5^th position in the world rankings.

Since then, Soderling has been out of action. He had withdrawn his name from the Cincinnati Open 2011 saying that he was suffering from a minor wrist injury. He had assured his fans that he would be back soon. But, that didn’t happen. Soderling missed a few tournaments and then, just before the US Open 2011, the news came in that Soderling was suffering from Mononucleosis.

In Mononucleosis, a person’s WBCs get damaged and that results in extreme tiredness.

Towards the end of the year 2011, Soderling announced that he would not be able to make a comeback in the initial parts of the 2012 season.

In July 2012, Soderling’s name was eliminated from the world rankings because he had not played a professional match since 1 year. The only good news for Soderling in 2012 was that his wife gave birth to a son.

In one of his interviews in November last year, Soderling had said that he was not too far away from returning to tennis arena and he would probably be making his comeback in February 2013. But, that hasn’t happened. It’s the end of March now and Soderling is still out.

Soderling is currently 28 years of age and will become 29 in August this year.

ARVIDSSON FALLS

Robin Soderling’s compatriot, Sofia Arvidsson, has been defeated by Alize Cornet of France in the first round of Open GDF Suez. Cornet won the match by 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

This was a fine performance by Cornet. She put up a fantastic display of power game and outsmarted her opponent. It took her 103 minutes to make her way into the second round.

This was the fourth match between these two players. The previous three matches were won by Arvidsson. So, this was Cornet’s first victory over Arvidsson.

Cornet got a blistering start in the match. She broke her opponent’s serve in the 2^nd and the 4^th game of the opening set and was off to a lead of 5-0. But, she couldn’t finish the set in a hurry as Arvidsson broke her serve in the 6^th game and won three consecutive games to reduce the lead to 3-5. The Swedish player needed one more serve break to equalize the scores, but, that didn’t happen. Cornet served out the 9^th game and won the first set.

Cornet started the second set with a serve break in the opening game. But, she couldn’t capitalize on that lead. She dropped her serve in the fourth game and the scores were levelled at 2-2 at the end of the 4^th game.

Arvidsson got two more breakthroughs in the 8^th and the 10^th game and won the second set by 6-4.

In the third set, Cornet absolutely demolished Arvidsson. With three successive serve breaks, the Frenchwoman finished off the set in a hurry.

In the next match, Cornet will take on the winner of the match between Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain and Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic. The match between Safarova and Lino will be played on Tuesday.