LONDON (Reuters) - Facing Roger Federer on grass is usually a daunting enough prospect but lining up against the Swiss with a dodgy stomach could make Robin Soderling feel more than a little queasy on Monday.
The Swede has been in the Federer firing line 10 times and on each occasion he has come off second best.
The most recent was in the French Open final and just three weeks on from that drubbing, Soderling is hoping to find a quick cure for his health problems if he is to have any chance of upsetting a man chasing a record 15th grand slam title.
"My stomach has been pretty bad since Wednesday, so I didn`t eat a lot. I felt pretty bad," said the 13th seed after reaching the second week of the grasscourt major for the first time.
"And it`s tough to play against Roger. I`ve played him 10 times, and after the match I never felt like I played well.
"It`s not because of me, I think it`s because of him. It`s tough to play well against him, put it that way. I`d like to improve everything from Paris."
Revamping his game in just 22 days is almost a mission impossible. Gifted with a thunderous forehand, Soderling has the ability to leave many opponents huffing and puffing as they chase after his winners.
He also employs a high-risk strategy of blunting his opponents strengths instead of exploiting their weaknesses. Those tactics can catch out most players but Federer is no ordinary rival.
FREE-FLOWING BEST
The five-times champion and favorite to reclaim the title snatched from his grasp last year by Rafael Nadal, has been at his free-flowing best during the opening week and there is little to suggest that anyone will be able to stop him from gliding into his seventh successive final here.
The second seed left Lu Yen-hsun, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Philipp Kohlschreiber in a spin to make the last 16.
"What stands out to me, is that I`ve beaten him so many times that it gives me an incredible amount of confidence, knowing that if I do play my game well, I should be fine," said Federer, who has lost just once in his last 69 matches on grass.
"It`s going to be interesting to see how he`s going to enter that match after coping with such a long tournament in Paris and see how fresh he still is. But I`ve played him here in the past, and I`ve played him on grass a few times now.
"Yeah, I`m definitely got to be ready for that match."
Soderling, however, was not quite ready to wave the white flag. Continued...
Original article
No comments:
Post a Comment