Soderling's Sizzling Run Continues

Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling claimed six breaks of serve in a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Russian Mikhail Youzhny Thursday night to reach the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open. The fifth-seeded Swede dropped just five points on his first serve en route to booking a Friday showdown with Czech Tomas Berdych.

Soderling, who notched his fourth consecutive win over Youzhny, reached his second consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final, having made the final four in Indian Wells, where he lost to Andy Roddick. Already at a career-high No. 7 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, Soderling now has his sights set on his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final.

Soderling has lost just one set en route to the semi-finals – against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round. Should he beat Berdych, Soderling will face in Sunday's final either Roddick or Rafael Nadal. Last year Soderling became the first player to ever beat the left-handed Spaniard at Roland Garros.
“I played really well from the back of the court," said Soderling, who dictated play throughout the match with his powerful, flat ground strokes. "I was moving well and didn't miss much. But I didn't serve quite the way I wanted to. I served really well the past three matches here, but today it wasn't so good. Hopefully I can improve on that tomorrow."

Looking ahead to his semi-final with Berdych, Soderling said: “We always had good matches. He's a great player. He played really well now in the past couple of weeks. I think he reached the [semi-finals] in Indian Wells, and now here he beat Roger and today Fernando. So he's definitely in good form. I really have to play well.”