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Robin Soderling celebrates - Source: Reuters -
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Sweden's Robin Soderling delivered a tennis master class in the
opening set before eliminating fourth seed Andy Murray 6-1 7-6 in
the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on
Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Swede overwhelmed Murray with a dazzling array of
deep top-spin forehands, flat backhands and power serving to race
through the first set in just 36 minutes.
Although Soderling wobbled when serving for the match at 5-3 and
30-0 up to be broken for the only time, he recovered to clinch the
tiebreak 7-4 when Murray netted a backhand.
"He played very well to start with and I didn't," a subdued Murray
told reporters. "I didn't move particularly well. I was hitting the
ball really short and he's obviously got a big game and he was able
to dictate all of the points.
"So from my side it was poor, but he hit the ball really big from
the back of the court and served well when he needed to," added the
Scot, who was beaten in last year's final at Indian Wells by Rafa
Nadal.
"I made some mistakes in the tiebreak, and that's why I
lost."
The Swede punched his right fist into the air in delight and will
next face seventh seed Andy Roddick, who powered his way past
Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-5 earlier in the day to reach the
semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fourth time.
Sealed Victory
The big-serving Roddick broke the 18th-seeded Robredo in the 11th
game of the second set before holding serve to seal victory in 78
minutes.
"I feel like I'm playing really well on my own serve," Roddick told
reporters after booking his place in the last four when the
Spaniard hit a forehand long.
"I think I've been broken once, but I don't know that I've had that
many break points against me throughout the week.
"That's always a good thing in that holding that easily makes my
returns better," added the American beating the Spaniard for the
11th successive time.
Roddick broke Robredo in the eighth game of the match to sweep
through the opening set in 34 minutes.
The second set went with serve until the 11th game when the
Spaniard was again broken and the American made no mistake in
closing out the match in the 12th.
Roddick, who won his 28th ATP title in Brisbane in January,
outplayed his opponent with his all-round power game, firing down
six aces and hitting 19 winners in searing afternoon heat in the
California desert.
Nadal and 20th-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic reached the
semi-finals from the other half of the draw with victories on
Friday.
