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Friday October 23, 2009

A Swede start for Soderling in front of own fans

STOCKHOLM: Top seed Robin Soderling got off to a perfect start in front of his Swedish fans on Wed­nesday when he outclassed Ecuador’s Gio­vanni Lapentti 6-3, 6-0.

In a packed Royal Tennis Hall, the 25-year-old dominated with his heavy groundstrokes against Lapentti, who had entered the draw as a lucky loser.

“He served well in the beginning but the longer the match went on the more I got into it,” said the French Open finalist, who only lost seven points in his serve during the match.

“It’s always fun with a packed centre court during an evening match,” added Soderling, who last cracked the top 10 in the ATP rankings for the first time.

Soderling broke Lapentti thanks to a missed backhand by the Ecuadorean in the fourth game and then comfortably held serve to seal the opening set 6-3. Lapentti crumbled under the Swede’s pressure in the second set and failed to win another game.

Soderling, runner-up here in 2003 and 2008, has now set his sights on winning his home tournament.

“Of course I’m the favourite now,” said Soderling. “I know that when I play well, I’m hard to beat. But I still have to go out there and play well during these matches.”

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis beat third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 6-2. Second seed Tommy Haas of Germany overcame Frenchman Florent Serra 6-3, 6-4. — Reuters

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