Soderling to miss Australian Open

Robin Soderling has confirmed that he will miss the opening Grand Slam of 2012 in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

The Swede has been out of action with the virus infectious mononucle since September and is not going to be fit in time to take up a spot in the first major of next year which gets underway on January 16. The latest Australian Open betting has been updated to reflect this.

Soderling last match was when winning the Swedish Cup in his home country, beating David Ferrer in the final in Bastad. The 27-year old had to pull out of the US Open at the last minute with the virus and did not recover in time to make the Shanghai Masters.

The world number 13 is hoping to be back in action in February but has to decide where his comeback will be. The two-time French Open finalist is hoping to step up his training in January to try and reach match fitness before a return to the court.

"I am feeling better with each day but it will still take some time before I can start practicing in full speed," Soderling said on his twitter account.

Soderling did have his best run of his career at the Australian Open last year in which he reached the fourth round in the draw before losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The Swede then went on a rich vein of form by winning back-to-back titles in Rotterdam and Marseille His last Grand Slam appearance was at Wimbledon where he was eliminated in the third round by Australian Bernard Tomic where he was struggling with stomach pains during the game.