Robin Soderling (SWE) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Soderling ended Roger Federer’s streak of reaching Grand Slam semifinals at 23! The big Sweed took down Federer in four sets to revenge his loss from last year’s French Open final. He is now one win away from reaching the finals of his second consecutive French Open final.
Berdych advanced to the semis of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career with a rather easy win over Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-1, 6-2. Berdych’s previous best result at the French Open came back in 2006 when he reached the fourth round, before falling to Federer. There has always been a lot of talk about Berdych and now he will get his chance to live up to it!
Match-up:
Soderling is 4-3 against Berdych and lost to him earlier this year in the semis at Miami. They’ve played once on clay which was back in 2007 at Monte Carlo and Berdych won in three sets. This is going to be one heck of a match between two guys who can really pound the groundies. No one has ever questioned Berdych’s skill, but his mental toughness has never been strong. It seems like he is finally starting to come into his own and that’s great news for the sport of tennis. Soderling has to get the Federer match out of his mind and focus on Berdych now. That was a great win for him, but he cannot dwell on it. This is tough to call because both are playing great, however, Soderling has a track record of winning at Roland Garros and if he plays like he did today I give him a slight edge.
Nick’s Pick – Soderling in 4 or 5 sets