While the surprising Milos Raonic has been grabbing the headlines, over in Europe that late bloomer from Sweden, Robin Soderling, has been cementing his place as the most consistently successful player of the year so far.
Three ATP titles, 17 victories, just one loss and a firmer than ever grip on a ranking of No. 4 in the world. That’s a dream start to 2011, marred only by the defeat at the hands of another relative unknown, Alexandr Dolgopolov, in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
After winning Brisbane (beating Andy Roddick in the final) and Rotterdam (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), Soderling earned a third title in Marseille on Sunday with a hard-fought victory over the big-serving Croat Marin Cilic 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-3.
Both Rotterdam and Marseille were played indoors which had always been the Swede’s favorite habitat until that amazing day at Roland Garros in 2009 when he did the unthinkable and beat Rafael Nadal, who was on a 31-match winning streak at the event, at the French Open. Nadal was suffering from knee problems at the time, but Soderling would not have been many people’s pick to take advantage of such a situation on clay. There was nothing in his record to suggest it.
He had never got past the third round at Roland Garros in three previous attempts and the three ATP titles he had won prior to May 2009 had all been indoors. Put the sun above his head and the clay beneath his feet and Soderling was considered a bit of a pushover by the game’s hierarchy.
That all started to change when Magnus Norman, a former French Open finalist whose career had been cut short by a hip injury, took charge of his shy and not universally popular countryman.
Mats Wilander, Soderling’s Davis Cup captain for many years who won three French titles during a stellar career, witnessed the change first hand.
“Magnus told Robin to get the horns out and go for it,” said Wilander, imitating a ferocious Viking sign as he spoke. “Robin’s a big boy with a huge game but he had never really used it properly. Beating Nadal that year in Paris changed everything. He started to believe in himself and did what Magnus told him.”
The record speaks for itself. Prior to that breakthrough in Paris, Soderling had never got past the third round in 21 Grand Slams. At the highest level of the ATP tour, the Masters 1000 Series, the Swede had made just two quarterfinals in 35 attempts. Following that defeat of Nadal, he not only reached the French Open final that year and again in 2010 but, at the Masters 1000 level, 10 subsequent tournaments have brought him one title, two semifinals and three quarterfinals. He is simply not the same player.
Now for the first time in his career he has won three ATP titles in a year (albeit at the 250 and 500 level) and it is not yet March.
Wilander thinks it is significant that Soderling has started blazing away with a new coach at his side. Last November Magnus Norman decided he did not want to spend as much time away from home and the pair parted amicably. Claudio Pistolesi got the call, asking if he wanted to take the job and, of course, the former Italian Davis Cup player did not hesitate for long.
“It was an unexpected and very exciting offer,” Pistolesi told me.
“Of course it was,” smiles Wilander. “A chance to coach the No. 5 in the world with Robin’s game? Actually, I think the change in coach has come at just the right time for Robin. He is a proud guy and doesn’t want people to think that he was just the creation of Magnus Norman. He is keen to prove that he can win without Magnus. Now he has done that; he’s free of that problem and the best thing is, he’s still improving. He’s a big danger to everyone now.”
So, suddenly, the men’s game has taken on a different hue. Yes, Nadal and Roger Federer are still the men to beat and all eyes will be on them in Dubai this week. But, while Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the Australian Open winner and finalist, have been resting or nursing minor injuries, Soderling, Raonic (who won a title in San Jose and made the final in Memphis to reach No. 37 in the world) and Nicolas Almagro cleaning up in South America with titles in Santiago and Buenos Aires, there are other players that need watching.
None more so than Soderling.
