Robin Söderling (born August 14, 1984) is a Swedish tennis player. He wears Adidas clothing and uses a Head Liquidmetal Radical MP racquet.
Early career
Robin Söderling made his first steps in international tennis in November 1998 in Luxembourg, when at the age of 14 he played his first official junior tournament, losing the opening match to Fred Hemmes Jr. In his first full year in the junior tour (2000), he achieved four tournament victories and in 2001 attained three more titles in the juniors including the Orange Bowl. In the same year Söderling achieved fourth place in the year-end ranking and played in his very first ATP tournament in Stockholm, winning his first match against Ramon Delgado.
2002
Robin Söderling tried to break into the men's circuit, playing five more ATP tournaments and the second round of the US Open. In the Challenger circuit he achieved a 16–8 record, and he played in the US Open Junior tournament where he reached the final.
2003
The transition to the main tour was completed as he reached the third round at Wimbledon (coming from the qualifications) and got an ATP final in Stockholm (losing a decisive tie-break there), earning the year-end ranking of 86.
2004
Robin's very first ATP title - in Lyon with a final against Xavier Malisse. He played also another final - in Marseille. By the end of the year, he was a top 40 player.
2005
Robin had his first serious injury, eventually resulting in a knee operation in March. But even though not fit to play many tournaments, he managed to score another title - in Milan (b. Radek Stepanek in final). After a mediocre and injury troubled season from there on, Robin reached just one good result (third round in the US Open), before going through another surgery in October.
2006
He bounced back from 100th place in the Indesit ATP rankings to top 50 within three months, even though knee and shoulder injuries still prevented him from playing at his best. Helped the Swedish team with two wins to keep its World Group Davis Cup spot in a play-off in Brazil. During the season he was healthy most of the time and managed a good climb, although he failed to impress at the Slams. But in the end of the year, he made many points and finished at career-high place of 25.
2007
Söderling made it to the round of 32 at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic. He caused much controversy on the court when he exchanged mocking behaviour with Nadal, tugging on his shorts in the manner Nadal is known for.
Söderling did not make it to an ATP final for the first time in 5 years in 2007, however he turned out consistent results all through out the year. Yet he missed the last 3 months of the main tour due to a left wrist injury.
2008
Söderling missed the Australian Open due to injury. His first tournament he entered in 2008 was the Open 13 Marseille, He reached the Quarter finals. He then reached the final of the ATP Rotterdam tournament, losing to Michael Llodra in the final in 3 tight sets. His success in Rotterdam carried over, as next week as he reached another final in Memphis, USA. He beat top seed Andy Roddick in the tournament along the way to the final. However he lost another final in 2 weeks as he lost to unseeded Steve Darcis in straight sets.
Singles Titles
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (2) |
| Challengers (3) |
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
July 21, 2003 |
Tampere, Finland |
Clay |
 Igor Andreev |
6–4 6–1 |
| 2. |
September 1, 2003 |
Istanbul, Turkey |
Hard |
 Michel Kratochvil |
7–6 6–2 |
| 3. |
October 4, 2004 |
Lyon, France |
Carpet |
 Xavier Malisse |
6–2 3–6 6–4 |
| 4. |
January 31, 2005 |
Milan, Italy |
Carpet |
 Radek Stepanek |
6–3 6–7 7–6 |
| 5. |
January 23, 2006 |
Heilbronn, Germany |
Carpet |
Tomas Zib |
6–1 6–4 |
Doubles titles (1)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (1) |
|
| Titles by Surface |
| Hard (0) |
| Clay (1) |
| Grass (0) |
| Carpet (0) |
|
External links
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