Robin Soderling is Still Ill and Will Miss Australian Open

Written by: Staff on 9th December 2011

Robin Soderling is Still Ill and Will Miss Australian Open

Robin Soderling of Sweden returns to Bernard Tomic of Australia during their third round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 25 June 2011. EPA/NEIL MUNNS |

Robin Soderling, who has not played on the ATP World Tour since July because of continued health issues involving mononucleosis (glandular fever) and has seen his world-ranking drop accordingly, will miss next month’s Australian Open after failing to recover from the illness.

Soderling was ranked world no.4 in the early weeks of 2011, nudging ahead of Andy Murray but has been inactive since winning the Bastad just after Wimbledon and is now placed 13th on the ATP Word Tour rankings. The opening months of next year would have seen him defending titles in Brisbane, Rotterdam and Marseille as well the ranking points from reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open.

The 27-year-old broke the news on his Twitter account, and said: “I am very sorry for being away for so long and for not giving many updates but my recovery has been longer than expected.

“I am feeling better with each day but it will still take some time before I can start practicing in full speed. My goal is to start with practice in January and I hope for tournament comeback in February but at this stage it is hard to know when and where. I hope my body will allow me to do that.”

Soderling stressed his appreciation of his fans’ continued backing during the last few difficult months and continued: “I will try to give you more updates. I love reading your messages and appreciate your support and encouragement very much.”

Continued problems with recurring mononucleosis contributed to the premature retirement of former world no.7 Mario Ancic in February at the age of 26. Andy Roddick also suffered a bout of the disease as did Roger Federer in 2008. On the WTA scene both the now retired Justin Henin and Nicole Vaidisova were affected.

Topics: Robin Soderling