Robin Soderling became the seventh Swede in Roland Garros history to advance to the final of the clay-court Grand Slam championship on Friday. The No. 23 seed dramatically fought back from a 1-4 deficit in the deciding set to beat No. 12 seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, in three hours and 28 minutes, for a place in his first clay-court final.
Watched by Bjorn Borg, a winner of six Roland Garros titles, and urged on by his coach Magnus Norman – runner-up in 2000 – Soderling bewitched Gonzalez with a stunning array of groundstroke and service winners to seal a famous victory that keeps alive his bid for a first Grand Slam championship.
“If you'd ask me a couple years ago which Grand Slam I'd play [a] final in 2009, I wouldn't have said Roland Garros,” said Soderling, who in Sunday's championship match will meet three-time runner-up Roger Federer of Switzerland.
Soderling will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Sven Davidson (1957), Borg (1974-75, 1978-81) and Mats Wilander (1982, 1985, 1988), who went on to lift the trophy. Only five men in the Open Era have gone on to win their first clay-court title at Roland Garros. The last to do so was former ATP World Tour Champion Gustavo Kuerten in 1997.
Soderling, who defeated four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, competently traded blows with the hard-hitting Gonzalez in the pair’s early exchanges. But it was 27-year-old Gonzalez who sealed the first break of serve with a blistering backhand winner down the line in the third game. Soderling, undeterred, found his rhythm and moved into a 4-2 lead before comfortably wrapping up the opening set in 34 minutes.
Gonzalez, who was appearing in his first Grand Slam championship semi-final since reaching the 2007 Australian Open final, saved three break point opportunities in the ninth game of the second set. In the next game he set up one set point opportunity, but Soderling coolly struck an ace out wide and regained his early impetus much to the frustration of his Chilean opponent. Gonzalez fell to 0-40 at 5-5 and an imperious service game from Soderling helped wrap up the 52-minute second set.
In the third set, Gonzalez wore down Soderling with an array of winning strokes that he had exhibited in beating third seed Andy Murray in the quarter-finals. Nerves began to creep into Soderling’s game midway through the set and in the 12th game Gonzalez was gifted two set point opportunities. Soderling committed two forehand errors and the Philippe Chatrier Court came to life again as Gonzalez won the 40-minute third-set.
Gonzalez, the 1998 Roland Garros junior champion, avoided the worst possible start to the fourth set when he saved three point points in a breathtaking opening game and clinched the game with a forehand winner down the line. At 4-4, the tension increased as Gonzalez questioned a line call he felt the umpire had incorrectly adjudged as out. Gonzalez hit three straight aces to win the game and minutes later, as Soderling’s serve and forehand crumbled, the Chilean levelled the score line at two sets apiece.
Gonzalez fired into a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and a sixth comeback from two sets down appeared on the cards. Incredibly Soderling relaxed to produce a series of superb service and forehand winners that helped him regain control of the baseline.
“I was tired,” said Soderling. “I have to admit I was tired. But I felt like, ‘okay’, this is not how it's going to end. I have to try everything I can. I felt like I can only do my best, but I didn't want to go off this court and feel like I didn't do my best in the fifth set. So I just tried harder, and all of a sudden it all worked again.”
The 24 year old began attacking the net and 1-4 became 4-4. In the ninth game Gonzalez saved two break points with an ace and a Soderling backhand into the net, but on Soderling’s third break point opportunity the Chilean hit a miss-timed forehand out.
Soderling held his nerve to secure a remarkable victory that extended his winning streak to nine matches. It was his first win over Gonzalez since March 2006 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells.
“My first feeling [immediately after the match] was actually relief that the match was over, because it was a really long match, and I was tired at the end,” said Soderling. “And then after a few seconds, I got really, really happy.”
Soderling hit 16 aces and 74 winners, converting five of 18 break point opportunities. Gonzalez, by comparison, hit 22 aces and 59 winners.
“You think you're going to win,” explained Gonzalez, “and nothing is done till the last ball. At 15-30 I really thought I was going to win, but I also feared that what happened would happen when a player starts relaxing and playing his best tennis and goes for his shots. I had doubts with regard to my serve, so I wasn't as strong on my first serve. He had two extraordinary returns, and then it turned out wrong, because I lost.
“I did not succeed in doing what I wanted to do today. I didn't want to use my second serve because of the way he would return the ball, but each time I played as if it was a second serve. I do think I didn't play my best tennis, but that's not an excuse. I always try and do my best, and what you saw on the court is all I have.”
Gonzalez had been attempting to emulate his Chilean compatriot Luis Ayala, who was runner-up at Roland Garros in 1958 and 1960. At 28 years and 313 days, Gonzalez was the oldest semi-finalist at Roland Garros since Tim Henman (29 years, 274 days) in 2004.
Gonzalez, a winner of 11 ATP World Tour titles, dropped to 16-3 on clay courts this year and 22-6 overall. He won his fourth Vina del Mar title in February.
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3877.ASP)
