Interview with Robin Soderling

Written by: Staff on 17th November 2010

Interview with Robin Soderling

Robin Soderling (SUI) |

R. SODERLING/M. Llodra

7 6, 5 7, 7 6

An interview with:

ROBIN SODERLING

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Before this match I think you lost your two previous meetings with Llodra. Why do you think he’s such a tough player to play for you? Do you think you created a lot of problems for you today? And what kind of problem…

ROBIN SODERLING: No, he didn’t give me any problem. He was easy today. (Laughter.)

No, well I played him three times now on the same kind of surface, you know, his best surface. I think when he plays indoor on these kind of courts, you know, he’s one of the best players in the world. You know, he serves unbelievable, and he has the best volley on tour, I think.

So it’s very difficult to play against him. Of course, you know, first time we played I lost 7 6 the third; I could have won. Today I won 7 6 in the third; I could have lost.

Against him it’s always you know, you need a little bit of luck, because there’s always a couple of points here and there who’s gonna decide the match.

Q. At the press conference after the match, Michael said that probably two years ago well, a few years ago after losing the first tiebreaker 7 love, you probably would have lost your temper and given up easily in the second set. Do you agree? And are you a different kind of player today compared to a few years ago?

ROBIN SODERLING: Well, yes, sometimes it happened to me, you know, in matches, and I worked on it a lot. I know now that, you know, even though if I don’t play my best tennis I can still win matches, you know.

Today it was a great match. It wasn’t maybe pretty, but, you know, I’m here as a winner. I think, you know, tennis is a very mental sport, because everybody can play; everybody is so good. So it’s the mental, the thing that’s gonna decide a lot of matches.

Of course, yeah, I worked a lot on that, and I improved that as well and I improved a lot of things. So I think I’m a better player now compared to a couple years ago, yeah.

Q. Are you looking to win your first big title, because you never win in a Masters 1000?

ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, it would be great.

Q. Is it the next step for you, very important?

ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, I think, you know, all the top players wants to do well in the big tournaments. I think this year for me it’s been very good in the Grand Slams and also in the Masters Series. You know, I played two semifinals, now one quarters, and a final.

It’s good, but I’m still missing a win. I really hope I can play well tomorrow, and then hopefully I have a chance.

Q. Compared to some of the top players you look fresh, even if you have played a lot of games this season. Is it anything…

ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, this year I feel good. This time last year I felt I didn’t feel so good. You know, my arm was hurting, my knee was hurting, and I was tired.

But now I feel perfect, which is very good because I have one big match coming up tomorrow, and also a couple of matches in London.

So I’m really looking forward to the end of this season.

Q. This is not the first time you do very well in Paris. How do you explain your success in this city?

ROBIN SODERLING: I don’t know. It’s been good. It’s been very good. And on different surfaces. This is completely different to Roland Garros. I played two big finals; tomorrow is gonna be my third one.

Hopefully I can win this time.

Q. Who do you prefer playing tomorrow: Monfils or Federer?

ROBIN SODERLING: It’s very tough. I don’t have a good record against Roger, of course. No one has a good record against him. He’s world No. 2 in the ranking, but now on this kind of surface he is maybe the best player in the world. So of course it’s tough to play him.

But Monfils is a good player. He was close to winning here last year. He played well here before. So I don’t know. It’s gonna be a tough match.

Q. I know you were just talking about the match itself, and it was not ugly tennis, but tough tennis. Where would you rate this as far as some of your wins are concerned, the fact that you had to dig deep, you faced three match points and all that? So what level? What spot would you rate this?

ROBIN SODERLING: Well, as you said, you know, it’s tough to really feel good on court against a player like Michael, especially on this fast surface. There’s no rallies at all. We played for three hours and we didn’t have any rallies at all.

So it’s really tough to find your rhythm. I stayed focused throughout the whole match. Of course I won, but, you know, I could have lost. I was facing three or four match points.

I think, you know, I didn’t win because I played better than him. I think I won because I had a little bit more luck than him.

Q. Was this a moment where you almost lost your temper or you were near to lost control or…

ROBIN SODERLING: Well, I think we both felt like that during the whole match, maybe, you know, because it was up and down all the time for everybody. I was up a break, and then he played an unbelievable game to break me back.

Of course it was very tough, but I kept telling myself all the time to stay focused because I knew that the match gonna be decided on only one or two points.

And in the tiebreak, you know, I was very focused on holding my service points and trying to make one or two good returns.

Q. Do you agree like some tournaments has to have this kind of fast surface to train a little bit? Is it more fun for you or a good idea?

ROBIN SODERLING: No, for me, it’s not great. Of course I like to play on this kind of surface, but I think I prefer a little bit slower surface.

I think also the crowd prefers maybe a little bit slower surfaces. Because if I were to go watch tennis, you know, I think it would be more fun to watch a match where you have long rallies, good points.

This is only like serve, return, miss, you know, ace. So I think it’s, you know, good that most of the tournament has slower surfaces than this.

Topics: Interview Questions, Laughter, Little Bit Of Luck, Llodra, Love, Match, Robin Soderling, Temper, Tennis, Three Times, Tiebreaker, Volley