Soderling storms into semis

Soderling: Another shock win

I didn't start that great but my serve helped and after seven or eight games I started to play better and better, and it's just great

Robin Soderling
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Robin Soderling is through to the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London following a shock 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic.

Swedish Soderling, who is only competing in the prestigious season finale as a last minute replacement for injured Andy Roddick, overcame the Serb to back up his earlier triumph against second seed Rafael Nadal and make it clear he is not taking his good fortune for granted.

The eighth seed, who was never broken and served up 10 aces, is now certain to make the semi-finals even if he loses his final group match against Nicolay Davydenko.

"I played a very good match today," said Soderling.

"I didn't start that great but my serve helped and after seven or eight games I started to play better and better, and it's just great."

Drought

The clash marked the end of Soderling's drought against third seed Djokovic, with the 25-year-old having lost his previous five meetings against the Serb.

Djokovic, who has displayed outstanding form of late with triumphs in 19 of his last 20 matches, failed to find his rhythm against the ruthless Swede and the hard-fought first set looked wrapped up for Soderling when Djokovic gave him three set-points at 4-5.

The Serb managed to claw back all three to send the set to a tense tie-break, but Soderling dominated at the critical moment, hitting a perfect volley to win two more set points before converting the second to take the lead.

Soderling kept the pressure on Djokovic in the second set and the Serb faded fast, showing his fatigue when he blundered a drop-shot on a break point to give the Swede a 2-1 advantage.

The Serb crumbled soon after and Soderling took advantage to break again before a netted volley from Djokovic sealed his fate.

Defending champion Djokovic, who admitted after the match he had been running on empty, will need to make a hasty recovery for his final round-robin match against Nadal later this week in order to keep his semi-final hopes alive.

"I didn't enjoy playing today's match, that's for sure," Djokovic said. "I'm just fatigued from the whole season.

"He had nothing to lose today. I think it's his first Masters Cup. He won four straight sets and absolutely deserved to qualify for the semi-finals. I think he's the best player so far in the tournament."