TENNIS in DEPTH.

Robin Soderling of Sweden lost to Michael Llodra of France on Friday, falling 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Open 13.

Llodra, runner-up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last year in an all-French final, never lost his serve and had 15 aces.

“I have great sensations,” Llodra said. “I knew it would be difficult to return his serve, but I waited for the good opportunity and I was able to keep my nerves under control.”

Tsonga joined Llodra in the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over lucky loser Illya Marchenko of Ukraine.

In a quarterfinal between two big servers, Llodra and Soderling offered few rallies but strong play at the net.

Soderling, who earned his fifth career title in Rotterdam last week, lost control of the first set in the tiebreaker when he missed two consecutive forehands.

Llodra, who beat seventh-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round, made the decisive break for a 2-0 advantage in the second set, and won the match when Soderling sent a passing shot wide on the first match point.

“I knew he would be nervous after losing the first set and I put the pressure on him,” Llodra said. “It paid off.”

Llodra will play the winner of the quarterfinal between Mischa Zverev of Germany and wild card Guillaume Rufin of France.

Tsonga was inconsistent against Marchenko, squandering eight of 11 break points.

Tsonga, who reached the Australian Open semifinals, showed his nerves toward the end when he wasted two match points with backhand errors.

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Robin Soderling secured the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament title in Rotterdam after Mikhail Youzhny was forced to retire hurt.

The 2009 French Open finalist, who had yet to get beyond the first round in a tournament this year, took the first set 6-4 as he won all three of the break-point opportunities he created.

The Swede then moved into a 2-0 lead in the second set only for his Russian opponent, who had knocked top seed Novak Djokovic out in the semi-finals, retire due to a wrist injury that had forced him to withdraw from his third-round clash against Lukasz Kubot at the Australian Open.

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Robin Soderling will attempt to become the first Swedish winner of the ABN Amro indoor tournament in nearly two decades after an upset 7-6, (3) 6-4 victory over second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals on Saturday.

Anders Jarryd’s win in 1993 was Sweden’s last.

Davydenko fought back from 5-2 down to force a first set tiebreak, which went Soderling’s way after the Russian double-faulted. It was Soderling’s first career tiebreak win over Davydenko.

A break in the ninth game of the second set ensured victory for third-seeded Soderling, who lost the 2008 final to Michael Llodra.

“It’s always tough, he is the best returner on the whole tour,” said Soderling. “I very happy to beat one of the best players in the world.”

Soderling plays Mikhail Youzhny in Sunday’s final, after Youznhy surprised Djokovic with a 2 set, 2 tie breaker win 7-6, 7-6.

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Robin Soderling was in a ruthless mood Friday as he crushed Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, an ATP World Tour 500 indoor hard-court event in Rotterdam.

The Swede, who had endured successive first-round losses at the Aircel Chennai Open (l. to Ginepri) and the Australian Open (l. to Granollers) to start the season, showed he is back on top form in the 64-minute rout. The third seed converted all five break point chances he created, while saving the one threat he faced on serve, and won 22 of 32 points on Benneteau’s serve.

Soderling is bidding to reach the final in Rotterdam for the second time, after finishing runner-up to Michael Llodra in 2008. The Tibro native, who reached his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros (l. to Federer) last year, will take on Nikolay Davydenko on Saturday.

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Top seed Novak Djokovic breezed into the quarter-finals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli.

Djokovic dominated throughout and could have won even more convincingly, the world number two converting just three of the 14 break points he created.

Sixth seed and 2007 winner Mikhail Youzhny was also untroubled as he ended the impressive run of Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan, winning 6-4 6-4.

Youzhny will face fourth seed Gael Monfils in the last eight after the Frenchman beat local favourite Thiemo de Bakker 6-3 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes.

“The next match will be very tough against Monfils,” said Youzhny, who has won both their previous meetings. “I am still recovering after my (wrist) injury, trying to get better with every match, so we will see.”

Frenchman Julien Benneteau set up a quarter-final clash with third seed Robin Soderling after beating Germany’s Michael Berrer 6-4 6-4.

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The 25-year-old looked on target for an easy win after he took the first two sets, but eventually lost to Spain’s 113th-ranked Marcel Granollers 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Soderling made 67 unforced errors and was scathing in his assessment of his performance.

“No, I started terrible and finished terrible,” he said bluntly when it was suggested things were going well early in the match. “I played a horrible match today and I am terribly disappointed.

“I didn’t feel good at all and I didn’t play well.”

Although the fragile Swede, who has won four ATP titles, pulled out of the AAMI Classic last week because of elbow tendonitis, he said he was 100 per cent fit and that the loss had nothing to do with any injury.

Soderling said his frustration had nothing to do with his good form in 2009.

“I would have been annoyed even if I didn’t play well last year,” he said.

It was the third Grand Slam in a row where Soderling had faced Granollers, who is something of a doubles specialist, but the Spaniard’s first ever win over the Swede.

Soderling played the 23-year-old three times last year, including the US Open and Wimbledon, winning all three matches convincingly and dropping just one set to Granollers in those matches.

Tuesday’s loss continues a tough start to the year for last year’s French Open finalist, having lost in the first round in Chennai and now here.

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Juan Martin Del Potro and Robin Soderling did not play at Kooyong after falling victim to injury.

US Open champion Del Potro pulled out with a wrist problem, while the Swedish world number eight has an elbow injury.

Soderling retired hurt after losing the first set 6-4 against Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic, while Del Potro withdrew ahead of his semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Last year’s beaten French Open finalist, Soderling said a tendinitis injury that has been troubling him since Wimbledon flared up during his dead rubber against Ljubicic.

“It was better yesterday, today I felt it a little bit more, so I figured I didn’t want to take any more risks,” he said.

“A lot of times, it gets better in just a couple of days, so with some rest and some treatment, I really hope I will feel good next week.”

Tsonga will now face Fernando Verdasco in the final after the Spaniard emerged as a strong Australian Open contender with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of world number three Novak Djokovic.

“I was feeling good today, despite the conditions,” said Verdasco, referring to the blustery winds swirling around the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.

“Of course, the result was a surprise. You never go to the court, and even less, with a guy like Novak, and think that you are going to win 6-1 6-2.”

Djokovic played down the result as “good practice” for next week’s first Grand Slam event of the season.

“Today I didn’t feel good on the court,” admitted the Serb. “He played well, but I made too many unforced errors and that’s it.”

Top seed Tommy Robredo made a quarter-finals exit at the Heineken Open in Auckland, losing 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4 to unseeded American John Isner.

The all-Spanish line-up of top four seeds at the New Zealand tournament are now out.

Second seed David Ferrer and fourth seeded Nicolas Almagro were beaten in Wednesday’s second round while third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to retire in the second round with an ankle injury.

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