Soderling marks career top 10 start with Stockholm win

Swede Robin Soderling took victory in his first career start as a top 10 player Wednesday, leading German second seed Tommy Haas into the second round of the Stockholm Open.

New number 10 Soderling, the 17th Swede to reach an elite ATP ranking since Bjorn Borg in 1973 when the classification was born, is the first from the nation to rank this high since Jonas Svensson 18 years ago.

The top seed crushed Giovanni Lapentti 6-3, 6-0 with nine aces and four breaks of serve in front of a sold-out Kungligahallen. He next plays Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who beat Germany's Simon Greul 6-3, 7-5.

Haas tested his recent Shanghai shoulder niggle with resounding success, opening his account with 17 aces on the way to a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Frenchman Florent Serra.

The homecoming by French Open finalist Soderling marked the start of a bid for informal title of Sweden - trophies at both the Bastad clay event and Stockholm indoors in the same season. The last to achieve that was Mats Wilander in 1983.

"I don't really feel any extra pressure," said Soderling. "The fans are willing me on. It's always great to play at home."

Soderling stands provisional ninth for a place in November's eight-man ATP Tour World Finals in London, with leading rivals Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco both unable to move this week.

Seventh-placed Davydenko was beaten by Marat Safin in the Moscow first round after winning the Shanghai Masters title and Verdasco is not playing until Valencia in 10 days.

Six men led by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have already qualified for the London finals.

The 31-year-old Haas showed no sign of the fitness concerns which forced him to hand over a second-round win in China to compatriot Rainer Schuettler after just one set.

"It's holding up," Haas said of his shoulder, which has undergone multiple surgeries over the years. "There were a lot of nice quick points today, that suited me well.

"I served extremely well. I'm happy with how I played, but there's still room for improvement of course."

Tournament number three Juan Carlos Ferrero was dispatched 6-4, 6- 2 as Marcos Baghdatis followed up last week's Challenger title in Tashkent.

Brazil's Tomaz Bellucci was first into the Friday quarter-finals through a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 second-round win over Argentine Leonardo Mayer.

Haas has two previous semi-finals at the Kungligahallen from 2004 and two years ago. His first loss in the final four came against Andre Agassi while he went out to eventual 2007 champion Ivo Karlovic.

The German with a Halle title on grass so far this season said that he's watching his back at an event where he next plays Finn Jarkko Nieminen for a quarter-final spot.

Spain's veteran Feliciano Lopez, the number eight, beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-4 four days after failing to finish due to foot and ankle pain in the Shanghai semi- finals against Rafael Nadal, his best result of a disappointing 2009 campaign.

--DPA

av/dg

( 511 Words)

2009-10-22-14:17:09 (IANS)

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