Soderling enters Semifinals at Swedish Open

Monday, July 20, 2009 -- On Friday’s quarterfinals in the Swedish Open, Swedish superstar Robin Soderling didn’t have a problem defeating the Spanish tennis player, Nicolas Almagro. Soderling is now in the semifinals of the tournament. He will either be facing fellow Swedish Andreas Vinciguerra or Jurgen Melzer of Austria who will be up against each other on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

Soderling felt good about the way be played during the match against Almagro. He broke several of Almagros powerful service as well as dominating the game.

"I played well today," Soderling said. "I hit the ball well. Maybe I didn't move at 100 percent. Almagro is an excellent clay-court player and I beat him in two straight (sets), so that is very good for my confidence."

Tommy Robredo, who is this year’s defending champion, will be up against Juan Monaco of Argentina instead of top seeded Fernando Verdasco from Spain.

Verdasco had take a break and focus on the restoration of his injury. He acquired a right calf injury during his match with Monaco.

"In the first game of the match, I pulled a muscle in my calf," Verdasco said. "It was really hard to play after that. I had real pain when serving, especially since the injury was in my right leg."