Gael blown away by Soderling

Robin Soderling claimed his first-ever Masters title as he overpowered home favourite Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters.

Convincing straight sets victory for Swede in Paris final

Robin Soderling claimed his first-ever Masters title as he overpowered home favourite Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters in emphatic style on Sunday. The big-serving Swede was always on top in a largely one-sided contest and ran out a 6-1 7-6 (7-1) winner in a little over an hour and a quarter. It was a disappointing end to the week for Monfils who had beaten both Andy Murray and Roger Federer on his way to the final. But in truth he never came to terms with his opponent's greater power and accuracy and, just as he did when the pair met at last week's Valencia Open, Soderling emerged a convincing winner. After the opening three games had gone with serve, Soderling earned the first break of the match when Monfils made a mess of a routine volley. Having held serve he then secured another courtesy of a rasping cross-court pass and closed out the set comfortably in just 27 minutes with Monfils unable to make any real impression on the Swede's delivery. Soderling was unable to maintain his first-serve percentage in the second set as Monfils came into the contest more. However, at no stage did the number four seed have to face a break point with his opponent unable to knock him out of his rhythm. Eventually the set went to a tie-break where Soderling upped his game again to assume control. Victory came when the Swede put away a clinical volley before dropping to his knees to celebrate a win which earned him the £380,000 first prize on offer.