Tennis Magazine
Soderling, Monfils Through to Finals
Defending champion Robin Soderling went through to the final of the Swedish Open yesterday by defeating David Ferrer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Swede had trouble putting away Andrea Seppi a day earlier, but said his performance was much better against Ferrer, who has the best clay court record on the Tour this season. "I had to play better today because Ferrer puts a lot of balls back at a very high pace," explained Soderling. "I always liked to play high balls, though, it doesn’t seem to bother me to hit at shoulder height. I can still serve better and reduce the number of mistakes but it was much better today.” Soderling will face Nicolas Almagro in the final on Sunday, after the Spaniard easily defeated countryman Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-3.
Over in Stuttgart, Gael Monfils was once again extended to three sets, this time by Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who was responsible for Nikolay Davydenko’s exit earlier in the week. Although the pair split the first two sets, the third was a one-sided affair, with Monfils dominating and finally winning it 6-0. His opponent in Sunday’s final will be Albert Montanes, who saw off Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 7-6 in a rain-interrupted semi-final. Montanes has already won a clay title this year (Estoril), where he beat Roger Federer en route to the championship.
