Soderling takes aim at Federer

The Swedes have never been known to be a very outgoing people, but they have been known to be a great tennis nation, going all the way back to 1881 when King Gustaf V built the first proper court in Sweden at Tullgarn, a private country castle of the crown prince. King Gustav was said at the age of 84 to have played two, three-set matches in one day.

A tradition was born and today, there are hundreds of tennis clubs in Sweden, some of which produced Grand Slam champions Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg.
Sweden's greatest player these days is fifth seed Robin Soderling, who knocked off Spain's Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round, earning himself a match up with a player he knows very well - five-time US Open champion Roger Federer.

It was Soderling who stopped the great Swiss record of Grand Slam semifinal appearances at 23 back at Roland Garros in a hearty and powerful 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
The win snapped a 12-match losing streak against Federer and he didn't stop there, taking out Tomas Berdych in five sets in the semis before going down to the man he had upset the year prior, Rafa Nadal, in the final.

Once considered to be an underachiever, the 26-year-old has become a remarkably consistent performer, which is why he's sitting at a career high No. 5 in the rankings and this year won a title indoors (Rotterdam), reached two Masters Series semifinals on US outdoor hardcourts at Indian Wells and Miami, reached the final of Barcelona on clay and quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time, where he took eventual champion Nadal to four sets.

He's become a more heady player, is in much better shape and although his huge serve, ferocious forehand and ambitious return are still his main strengths, he can mix it up much more and has developed Plan B's when he's isn't clicking.

"I really feel that I can go very, very far in the big tournaments," said Soderling. "But also I can lose early if I don't play well. There are some more expectations. But I played so many Grand Slams, so I know what I did in previous tournaments doesn't really matter. Every tournament is a new tournament. I'm pretty confident with myself. I know that I can do well when I play well. But you need to play well."

Soderling friends and coaches have spoke about how fearless he is, and his Davis Cup teammate, Robert Lindstedt, has called him "the most competitive person I have ever met in my life." Soderling's coach, former French Open finalist Magnus Norman, said that he's become a fine analyst of his game and his opponent's tendencies.

Wilander, who has closely tracked Soderling's career, believes that he's ready to win a Grand Slam. Perhaps he is, but in order to so, he must get past 16-times Grand Slam champion Federer again, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament and is more dangerous on fast hardcourts than he is on clay as he can turn points around much more quickly. Last year, the two met at this stage, which resulted in a four-set victory for Federer, but the Swiss needed to go into a tiebreaker in the last set to pull off the win.

"I know his game and he knows mine." Soderling said. "I'm pretty sure how I need to play to have a chance to win. But it's going to be extremely difficult."

Federer is wary of Soderling, and says that the key for him will be to read his serve and move the big Swede around. He said that there will be no secrets between them, but has had seen Soderling mature.

"Maybe he's more calm on the court now," he said. "Maybe he doesn't see all the other opponents as enemies. Maybe he realizes that the tour is not that bad as it once was. I don't think he was enjoying as much, a few years ago. Who knows, maybe his girlfriend also calmed him down, the whole deal. Little things can have a huge impact. Before he was very good already, but he was a bit up and down. He's playing really well. I expect it to be really tough, especially now that he's gotten a taste of how to beat me. It's up to me to clean up my game and put in a good performance.

Soderling said that he enjoys US Open night matches and that's exactly what he'll get on Wednesday. He know he has to keep the points short and attack whenever possible. He says he's relishing the challenge and if he plays his best, Federer could be in for a long night. Soderling will enter the match as the underdog, but at least he knows after his victory in Paris that besting Federer isn't an impossible task.

"It's matches like that you train for," Soderling said. "It's matches like that I've been dreaming of playing since I started playing tennis, playing at the big courts in the big tournaments. It's very fun."