Last year Robin Soderling showed he was more than capable of competing with the world's best players, with a second consecutive French Open final and quarter-final finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open. The Swede has carried that momentum into this season and the world number five has enjoyed a stunning start to 2011 with three titles to his name already. The Wimbledon betting indicates he could add a slam to this tally in June.
The 26-year old will make a belated start to his clay-court season this week, when he competes at the Estoril Open in Portugal as the top seeded player. Soderling has been struggling with Achilles tendon and knee problems over recent weeks but appears to be fighting fit again. The battle will now be on Soderling to get back to 100% fitness in time for a busy summer, starting off at the end of May with the French Open before Wimbledon the following month.
Grass has never been a favourite surface for Soderling and that reflected on his record at Wimbledon. Last year's quarter-final was the first time the Swede had gone further than the fourth round in eight appearances at the famous Grand Slam. It was bad luck that the 26-year-old came up against Rafael Nadal in dominant form, despite winning the opening set, Soderling was eventually put to the sword by the tournament's eventual winner in four sets.
Despite the defeat, Soderling was able to take plenty of confidence from his Wimbledon performance, following it up with another quarter-final appearance at Flushing Meadows later in the year. The talented Swede could well be a surprise package this year to maybe go one further and reach the semis.
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